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Show ABRAHAM LINCOLN. With each recurring anniversary of the birthday birth-day of Abraham Lincoln we know him bettor. At the close of the civil war the states that had attempted to secede hated him, although there were many fnrsecing nnd keen witted Southerners Southern-ers who realized that Lincoln was the best friend the South had in Washington. When stricken down by the hand of an assassin his work was unfinished, nnd, unfortunately, those who finished fin-ished it for him undoubtedly strayed far from the methods Lincoln would have followed. When the constitution of the United States was written there was no stipulation that states, once having entered the union, could not secede if they thought it wise. This loophole was left in order to induce all to' enter. In the minds of mnny political thinkers the implication was pros-ont pros-ont that the constitution was binding merely through the signatures of nil the states. Among others it was stoutly maintained that the constitution consti-tution did not specifically deny the light of secession. se-cession. It took a four years' wnr to weld together this original loophole in the constitution, nnd today there Is scarcely a mnn, North or South, who docs not mltnit in the South at least privately that the union is better and greater as Lincoln made it. Consider then the greatness of the mnn. Horn in extreme poverty, reared in every manner of hardships, acquiring nn education amid squalor, nnd finally landing in the White House at the1 most critical time in the nation's history, this is indeed a biography that will remain the greatest source of inspiration to the nntiffn. Added to this, however, was the strength of character and indomitable perseverance of the man, his leadership leader-ship of men nnd his well nigh personal command over the destinies of the nation, and we have a picture that will never be equalled In this land of liberty. And we hope not, because Lincoln's triumphs were In the midst of woe, want, misery nnd bloodshed. Lincoln was no stickler for absolute and undented un-dented democracy at all times. At Gettysburg he uttered the immortal phrase, "government of the people, for the people nnd by the people." And he meant It. Rut he realized, as every sensible sen-sible mnn docs, that there arc some circumstances circum-stances that alter cases even in a republic, and one of these was when he made the emancipation proclamation. He merely laid the draft of the document before his cabinet and said he was going to communicate to them something about which ho did not desire them to offer any advice. They might make suggestions as to detail, but nothing more. None of them had been consulted as to the president's purpose. He alone settled the matter. (Morse's "Abraham Lincoln," Vol. 2, Pages lM,lir) "The constitution invests its commander in chief with all the law of war in time of war," was his justification for his course. Even in a republic there is no room for argument argu-ment no tlme under some circumstances. It is evident that Lincoln construed the constitution consti-tution without idd from the courts at this iwint, yet few people have thought it worth while to decry him for classifying the emancipation proclamation proc-lamation as a "rule of war," which it was not. Tho war was fought primarily to prevent secession, seces-sion, not to free tho slaves in such a sumptuary manner. Hut when the opportunity came, Lincoln Lin-coln went a step farther and, standing head and shoulders above the cabinet, above congress, above the people, above the courts, above the constitution itself, Lincoln with one fell swoop mndc good his oath at New Orleans in his young manhood. There, In his early days, he had seen blacks bought and sold in the slave marts, and, looking toward the sky, he is said to have uttered: utter-ed: "Hy God, if I ever get a chnnce to hit that thing, I am going to hit it hard." No one doubts the vigor of his blow when he got his chance. No one held him back, or tried to. No one cared for the technicalities of judicial judi-cial procedure, for the loud words and windy phrases of congressiopnl dignitaries. The people peo-ple of the North were against slavery, so that when Lincoln brushed aside the cabinet, congress con-gress and the courts, he was in reality incarnating incarna-ting government by the people through himself. him-self. Thoso days and deeds are fittingly inscribed in the scrolls of history. The travail of renewed birth is a memory. The result has been a powerful power-ful nation, n greater destiny. The bloody shirt is no longer waved. The remaining soldiers of the South and North arc brothers, friends and neighbors. This result justifies Lincoln's life nnd course in solving the untownrd problems that confronted confront-ed him. ,1 |