The Leavenworth weekly times. [volume] (Leavenworth, Kan.) 1870-1880, 1878-05-23

virtue IN ourselves, we esteem 90 ennObl1ng
in our enemy. The brave man has no resent
Inents against a brave foe. Honorable war
fare leaves no personal sting behind.
We did not make war upon the people OF
the seeded States-Out upon secession. We
cid not wage battle with the rebel, but
gsinsf rebellion. We did not invade the
Southern people, but the treason that had en-
Irenchej Itself IN that part Of our common
country But While we honor dead eLefnl'a
Tor their h,rOism. we mus; reucIu Der that an
did gct 'is--he cause may sin survive VII
the living.
The true soldier. and the true man :ner
when he Offers the hOnO-s 10 the dead >J-'tL,''
or comrstdg, will recOg nIZc the coinln"I MAJ
| hood OF our humanity by an Offering 10 li;e
| brave foe who died FOR h. cause. This - rigilt
| because IL Is natural and the offspring OF 'ise
| better instincts OF all brave men.
But, when this Is the fact, and ought 70 %
| there the matter ends. The principle we
fought for j. just as holy now a thel, anu ~
should meet with the same detotoh IN p'iafce
l a. In war and should be as firmly ami I'M
Il ntuchInPiy maintained by the moral and
Il poliricaI forces OF the nation as IL was through
/ The organization OF armies and tlie material
| of war As important victories have bScn
4 won and weighty issues lost at the ballot
i box as on the battlefield. In fact the very
\ That questions OF state are decided by mum.
1 bers through the ballot, instead oil Dy thc
| heaviest battalions in the field III We NEGLECT
| our duty in the one place, We may nave 10
make II good in the other
| When, then, We are called upon, as is too
often the case now, whenever We meet 10
rades died, to 'nlingle the blue with the gray"
| IL comes sometimes without that distinction
we shou:d ever draw. And II comes, too, a.
rule, from those who refused 10 die on el!!her
side OF the great argument-but who would
be glad TO have not only the memory OF the
| struggle Pass away, but with II the reeolIec-
| ton that they were not OF IL
No sincere, honest, brave man wants TO for
get the heroism which made him "A better
man-and, above all, no one intends 10 MAKE
by his alteration an apology Tor Witai ne dla
No. ind a
| name, who asks II but on the contrary. ne
| would resent II as a hypocrisy that would
humiliaie him TO accept. No, no. let Us mol
al the bidding OF any man, or any polirN, or
any convenience, ever lower the stand tFd %!
the cause we followed. II would bc ul>hunNl
TO the living; IL would be sacrllt-S 10 tle
dead. II would degrade patriotism; u you u
| make a farce OF all that was cone and sud-, -
| ed. IL would be the mock battle q. tl-a MASK
| ers, who die ON the stage Tor Ult pay ta'h
makes them hale-felows behind IIc Curtain
| Let Us at all times ami under al cIrcGIusi..n-
| ces do honor 10 the dead ConfctcEats. Inf ne,
too, paid the last obligation 10 MS CnuNic. ions
| But we would be ignoble iocmen II We dld ~
| by denying or ignoring the sincerity 81 "Gt
| own dead who sleep beside htui. or bN the
poor apology that minsle> causes anu great
principles with personal admirliicsl-
| In the affairssIf men anu nattonSs where
| great interests and widely differing opinions
| and policies of necessity arise ana c"inS IN
conflic some things must he taken sas >s'ltit'a
| And No. because TO unsetile them Il Tile de-
| struction Of both-of all The war sel.igd
| some things.
/ government il 10 FEST and it, functions 10 bc
| performed. This l. a Daiion-not aconiedrE-
| acy. Ii Is 10 be administered lrola a pow =
coming from the whole people-not by The
| sufferance and consent of many distinct or
| PLANTATIONS of people. II Is "A naiios with
| local administrations for local needs, with "A
| general government for the benent OF all. IL
Is "A sovereign power, not a ledgue-founded
on the law of all things that the greater con-
trols tile less. that the less Is merged IN The
greater. independent action OF any member
| IN has settled the fact that liberty is'the
common law OF this nation-and that equal
rights il the Dirthright OF all men. That
| there shall be no class or caste, by law-that
| each man makes these for himself. That the
rich shall not Cypress the poor, or deprive him
| oiany right; that me pooE shaiInot py NloIshce
despoll the rich. That life, liberty and free
dom, which are necessary for the acquire
| ment of property, shall be inyiolate. These
are the essentials sOr human happiness, the
| conditions without which civilization falls OF
its highest development and Uses Come
| what may. ihese must be guardsd ana pre-
| seryed-even To war and sacrlhces tqual 10
those TO those by which they have been Sc
| cured.
| And we must not forget that thSse may he
impaired and destroyed by other means than
war. Legislation, or the refusal OF II, Is
equally potent and for more insidious. An
other thing settled is that the constitution
and laws made under il are absolute, SUI
preme, and must be ooeyed. One OF the nun
| damentaI ideas o. the constitution is, that
the power of revision or reversal in our laws,
or in their administration, is to be exercised
at prescribed periods. All agents OF toe laws,
| executive or legislative, are elected Tor speci-
fled terms, and all attempts TO abEldge such
| terms, or destroy the eenure, are revolution
airy, and If put in force treasonaole
| The tenure of power in this natlQp IS nom
the law. To resist is ransrcny, and the e.
thronement of physical force as the o.
| sanction OF authority. II was the Genla!
this tisit precipitated the war of the rebelli
THE rsfus:fl OF the seeding States to recOS-
nize the binding obligation OF presidential
election. The saIse attempt Is being made
| to-day. Resistance to II Is equally the duty
| of the hour now, as then. In 1851 there were
not enough men in Congress TO coptrol that
| body against the elected president, aud they
| left their seats TO dispSssess him OF tharights
| and power of his office by arms 'lf there are
| enough TO do il now, the government may be
| oSerthrown bysa parliamentary revolution.
If that Is once dene, then indeed, the annex
| alton % Mexico becomes a legitimate ques-
| tion-for her Institutions Sand her soil would
| remain together.
| We cannot argue this qgestion-discussion
| can throw no light upon II. 1t Is SELF. tsSer-
| tive. We did not argue secession wedid not
| discuss it; We put II DOWN We must put
dowrSthis attempt, and declare every man
1 an enemy 10 the Constitution who by his
| vote abets ii, or who by his pledge commits
himself TO i. II is the controlling question
now because il is Vital and strikes at the clt-
| adel Of law, authority, public ordeT-at The
| Government itself.
| The present Congress has no more authOri-
/ ty over the question of the Presidency than
the Legislature of State. IL has no more
power 10 interfere with the executive Office,
| save by liza peachment for acts done in oihce,
1 than the common council or our city. The
| law touching tlse election of tile President
has been exhausted-it expired on the 9TH day
| of March, lsI5-it is revolution 10 disturb 1t
| now.
| This is then proper occasion TO refer to
| public affairs, because their condition touch
| es the ark of the covenant for which we
| fought, for which those who sleep in yonder
| graves gave their lives. II is no mere qUes-
| ton of political difference, no question of
policy, no party dispute-but an elliott anew
| 10 subvert the institution and dsetroy the
| Government we fought so long 10 preserve.
Ii is then our duty, fellow-spldiers, on an
| occasion like this, AS well rs upon ali others,
| to take counsel, not OF our preludlces, our
| party predictions, or our personal wishes,
but ofthose great underlying principles which
| give value 10 our form OF government lsv!i,
| and TO protect them at the ballot box, IL may
| save US from more war and all its attendant
| evils. our party feelings too often carry us
| too tar. We had warnings before the great
| rebellion, which had we needed might nave
| averted what We mourn to-day. But that
sacrifice should quicken us now, that we may
not sleep again.
ger comes-for then patriotism acts instinct
lively. We were all partisans in ls6O. We
| We're all patriots in 1861. And so II Will be
again. But by being patriots IN ISIS We may
evade the test which 50 transformed US IN
| ISL.
II is now thirteen years since We laid aside
II
The memory of common dangers, common
sacrifices and a common cause, are yet fresh
| with us all. We come here 10 revive the re-
collections of those days-not their bitter les
sons, but their ennobling example In the
presence then of each other, and over the
graves where sleep our fallen comrades, let
us renew our vows 10 the country We 30 well
erred to the constitution snd laws that give
IL life, and 10 the flag which symbolises all Its
| blessings and its obligations. And doing this,
| as IL becomes men TO do, We shall he the bet
/ ter fitted to defend what We have won from
new dangers and new treasons.
| COL. r. II. WILBUR
Mayor of Omaha, was then introduced by
| the chairman, and after a few Introductory
! remarks he said: What care we for thunder,
and lightning, and rain, when We have over
| come the greatest storm of modern history
| With the memory of Antietam, Fredricks
| burg, Atlanta, Chattanooga, and a score OF
| other historic battlefields, cherish no feel
| ing of luminosity against any soldier who
| fought on the opposite side, provided he is
| a loyal citizen to-day. This is no loye-feast
however, and II he were here do not think
i 10 yyouIl euiOy IT. He cOuld not he here