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Show SB Bg l i FuU Membership of Senate and House, With the Galleries Crowded With Admirers, Hear Commendation of General and His Officers J And Men Few Americans Ever Accorded Such Honors Senator Cummins Speaks ai j First Considers It High Privilege to Extend j Welcome for United States Senate. j WASHINGTON. Sept. 18 Standing in the chamber of the house of repre-Isentatiyea repre-Isentatiyea with the full membership of the spnatc and house abotP him. and with galleries crowded with admirers, General John J Pershing received to- I Idaj the torrual thanks of congress tor the services he and the officers and men he commanded in France rendered render-ed during the great war. To few Amerelcans has It tallen to be thus honored; to few soldiers of any nation na-tion has been given to her loaders chosen of the people speak such highj praise of iheir services lor that people I as General Pershing heard today. Senate and house assembled in tehjr respective chambers Then the Sena- tors marched in pairs through the old corridors of Ihe capitol to seats on the, front benches of the house. Senator, Cummins, as president pro tempore of the senate, eat with Speaker Gillett, and when General Pershing had been; escorted to Hie tloor be for. th prak-er's prak-er's bench, facing a great American flag draped on the wall, it Was Senator Sena-tor Cummins who extended the in si greeting. "General Pershing.'' he said, "it is my high privilege to extend to iu tho sincere and cordial greeting of "he senate of Ihe United States. The message mes-sage I have ihe honor to bear is not a greeting alone, but an eamttSt W( I come and heartv congratultion upon your sate and victorious return to your native land. Nor is it a welcome only, for it is full of deep appreciation of the tremendous task you have so wonderfully and worthily accomplished. accom-plished. "You were called upon to assume the immeassurable responsibility of commanding the greatest liody of sol dlers who ever marched under the American flag, and you led this In-vm In-vm ibie host to the very summit of military fame and national glory. While our tears are flowing and out-hearts out-hearts are breaking, as we solemnlv remember the tens of thousands who sailed away with spirit so resolute and courage so perfect and who will return nevermore until God calls us all on His ljudgment day, we receive with un ; bounded joy and undying gratitude those who have pa.-s.-d unharmed through the peril- of the cruelest war In the history of the world. 1 "Your entrance into Franco, followed follow-ed by an artn which exceeded In numbers num-bers and surpassed in daring Ihe most enthusiastic prophesies, was the most 'Impressive special le in all ti e annals 'of warf.trr little more than h year later, the United States had occom-! occom-! plished its mission, and when the day or armistice dawned, It bad won the admiration and held the conflence, es-; teem and affection ot every country I I of the earth whose people- loved jUS-'tice, jUS-'tice, revered liberty and honored man-1 hood Upon that day, the fame of the American soldier and the nation of his allegiance had risen to the highest point ever attained in the cause of hunianlt The Ruler of the Universe help as to maintain through all the stormy years to come the respect and faith which you and your gallant army so magnificiently won for America ?nd her beloved Institutions." Speaker Cillell follow r, I "Human nature loves to personifj its ideals. And so we all rejoice to! see personified in the commanding! general the gallantry, the high pur j pose, the unconquerable determination Df our crusading army. Those boys were our bravest and best. For thofte who fell wo render tearful homa? o. For those who return maimed and crippled wf owe tender rare and sup port. But lor the great army which has come back disciplined in bodv andi in character, for them I have Indeed gratitude and admiration, but my strongest emotion is en'. They will be our heroes. "And in you, sir. their commanding general! we like to see typified the spirit of thai noble army As their lit representative, we representatives ol trie people welcome v ou home Put I would no indicate that our welcome lo you Is entirely impersonal. Of all the details of your gcuer.ilship we are .ill not now qualified to judge. In due time that wilt be adjudicated by !is-tory. !is-tory. But we do know that you were gloriously successful. Far from yrmr '" government, in a foreign land, :ou h3d to rely upon yourself. Even in what you said you must b prudent. Ther was every chance for errors But, sir, if you made them either in polio pr in Btatement, we have not heard of them. You have seemed to us not only a successful general bending all I -great powers without favor and without with-out leniency to the one stern purp e of victory, but you have also seem, d n wise, discreet, restrained, far-sicid-ed man. Aud, sir. I may add, that to those of us who knew you it is refresh t n ing, but noi -urpiicing. to find lhat a tier all the supreme power, the h'.gli station, tho lordly associates and the unstinted compliments to which you have he. n accustomed you have de-V( de-V( 1 1 neither arrogance nor affectation, affecta-tion, Inn that you have come back at you went away, modest. Btralghtfor ward, un.. polled Clark Presents Resolutions The formal resolution of thanks was then presented to the general by former for-mer Speaker Clark. h 'Grim isaged war hath smoothed her Wrinkles,"1 he said, "and peace with healing In her wing, like a gentle spirit now is brooding o'er a sore sad jstorm-rocked country. God be thanked' And you. General Pershlnc. .M r,- ,, master workman in this wot.d- , rous and blessed transformation- n consummation so devoutedly wished by all peoples, kindreds and tongues "What you and your gallant men did over there will be cherished forever as part of the precious treasures of the mighty republic. "You and your men did noi fight to add to the area or wealth of our oe-loved oe-loved country, but to uphold the principles prin-ciples of right and iruth and justice tiur soldiers who died in the war did not die in vain, but to make men free. As long as the republic endures the! graves in Franco will be Sacred shrines. V t Commander of Greatest Americar Army. "General, you commanded more men than any other American soldier eei' commanded more, we hope than an) Othi r American will ever comma'.. d. 101 every sane and patriotic American on, st fervently hopes that our coun'rv will never be involved in another war "Your singular fortune has given you command of troops on three contm ents, America, Asia and Europe. In the world war, by universal acclaim your conduct was superb and makes one hundred and ten millions of Americans proud to claim you as our countryman. Of all your actions, tiff one for which we are most profoundly grateful and for which we love you best was lhat you strongly and triumphantly tri-umphantly insisted that you and your men would fight only as an American army and not merely as replacement troops for British, French, Italians or B I nans. That feat was the acid test of your robust Americanism. It caused all our hearts to swell with Infinable pride and entitled you to our eternal gratitude. "Extraordinary military rank should be conferred only for extraordinary services in the field. In appreciation Of your s, r ices, the congress, voicing iContinued On Page 5) 4 i CONGRESS EXTENDS FORMAL THANKS TO GEN. PERSHING (Continued From Page ) thi sentiments i the American people, Have conferred on you. in perpetuity, he extraordinary rank of full general the highest military honor within our power to bestow and in honoring Mu we feel that we jre honoring ourselves. our-selves. "In addition to the permanent gen- ralship, the congress baa tendeied vou individually and to your officers and men en masse the thanks of Ihe American people .md of the congress f the Cnitd States a rare honor in itself. Resolution of Thanks. ' The resolutions of thanks is Ic . these words The thanks of the American people peo-ple and of the congress of the United States an- due and are berchy tendered, ten-dered, to General John ,i Pershing for bis highly distinguished services as commander-in-chief of the American expeditionary forces in Europe, and to the officers and men under his command com-mand for their unwavering duty and valor throughout the war.'" In conclusion, the former speaker paid a tribute to his native state and explained why he had been selected to speak, saying: "The chief reason why the committee commit-tee of arrangements appointed me r'or this most, pleasant function Is the fad that you are not only a great American, Ameri-can, but also the foremost living Mis-sourlan. Mis-sourlan. than which there is no finer type of American while I happen to be the dean of the Missouri delegation in congress. I am proud and happ to present you as Exhibit A' showing 1 forth to the world what sort of nu,n Missouri urows when in hor most I prodigal ol moods." |