The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-06-04

And vet no one can Justly accuse the Ameri-
can pcople OF indifference to the dead--least of
ali 10 those of the dead whose memories are hal
lowed by the associations of heroic service. The
friends of the Union are not disposed to forget
the brave men whose blood has at once cemented
and sanotihed the Union. How this remem-
brance may be best manifested, is a question
which the leaders of the Grand Army of the
Republic have evidently failed to answer salts
factory. lin materill age, IL is not sur
prsing that proposal to build up a solemn
festival on the fleetng foundation of senti-
ment has not elected more than feeble
and occasional response. The claims of the
wounded and MANNED living are felt to
be more urgent because more practical, than
those connected with patriot graves The living
memorials of war are a burden not to be borne
lightly: they have need of n care constant and
substantial, and one worthy of being cherished
apart from the temptations and vicissitudes of
politics. The graves, on the other hand, exact
Il less formal attention. The adornments most
BETTING them are those of genuine affection:
where that exists tributes will not be wanting;
and in its absence parade and show must neces-
sarily degenerate into a hollow fOrmality, which
no amount of speechmaking will ennoble or per-
petuate.
There is another aspect of the question which
has probably not been without effect DecOra-
ton Day, us it has been inaugurated is a day
that can never become national. 1t is an appeal
to the patriotism of one section at the expense
of the pride and feeling of the other section. 1t
is memorial of the triumph of Northern loyalty
over Southern rebellion. 1t is method of re-
minding the North that it is a conqueror, and the
South that tits conquered 1t Is an attempt to
convert even the graves of the dead into testi-
mony affecting the history of millions who are
living. As managed by reverend gentlemen here
and at Washington, and elsewhere, 1t is an occa-
sion for heaping epithets of infamy upon one set
of graves while piling flowers upon another set
for reyiving the bitter memories of conflict,
scattering afresh the seeds of hate and under
the pretense of glorifying Union heroes invok-
In1
heroic Confederate dead. Such ceremony
might have its uses in the midst of war. But
it is incompatible with the restoration of peace
utterly incompatible with that renewal of cor
dial feelings between the peoples of the two sec
tions which alone can impart lasting vitality
and strength to the Union. The common inte-
rests of the country, the dictates of a magnani-
nous patriotism the promptings of consistent
Christianity, all point to n certain forgetfulness
as the precursor of an era of good feeling.
Both sides must concur in burying the hatchet
or a happy alliance will be impossible. And
Decoration Day, as we now have it, is an osten-
tatious display of the trophies of victorious
war, which tends to beget dictatorial and ag-
gressive spirit on one ESde, and feelings of hui
initiation and revenge on the other. To q festi-
val admitting of this construction, and marred
by these tendencies, the generosity and good
sense of the country will not be easily recon-
| ciled
We do not forget that the South furnished q
| bad example. 1t, too has its decoration days
days for renewing floral testimony to the virtues
of slain Confederates. The practice is not i'm
proved by the precedent. The purity of the
| affection may be doubted which out of regard
| for the dead insists on fresh indictments of the
living. On the vulgar ground of eXpediency it
| should be abandoned For if the South insists
on hallowing one day to the Rebellion which
was conquered, the Grand Army of the Republic
will have a plausible excuse for hallOwing
another day to the Union, which is the con-
queror. And while the rivalry lasts we cannot
| hope for more than the semblance of peace
| The good feeling and mutual respect which arc
essential to the realities of peace will continue
wanting.