Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-05-31

away oeyOHO tne reach OF friendly hand,
on southern battle fields, in prison yard,
beneath the waters of sea and river lie
tens OF thousands towards them we watt
words OF love and reverence, and through
prayer will we unite with their spirits in
the better world. Not few of the old
soldiers walk yet in the land of the living.
speak my own convictions; we are at
times too willing to await their death to do
them honor. The country cannot show too
much favor to their veterans She owes to
them her life.
But honoring the dead is not the sole
DUTY OF Decoration day, there are lessons to
the learned and needed by the living for
their own guidance in life. The patriotism
OF our soldiers perfumes the air; we must
lnhale 1t into our own souls. The inherit
ance OF the republic has not lost its value;
we must prize it os they priced it, and as
they suffered and died so should we be pre-
pared to suffer and to die if need there be,
TO maintain the integrity and honor of the
Union. No better means are there to
teach ourselves and our children our duties
10 the country than the vivid remem-
orance of the deeds of valor and of virtue
of our soldiers.
America can well afford to forget for
oay all ordinary business in order to repeat
TO her sons the lesson of patriotism. There
is gam for her through this lesson which
silver and gold cannot purchase. It is not
wealth. mat makes country safe, nor rail
ROADS embracing IN their iron bands whole
continents, nor ships covering seas and
oceans. Rome fell while her material
prosperity was at its height; she had been
lnVlnclble when her statesmen and generals
n n To- L.
OF their own labor. What makes country
is the enduring virtue, the sterling patriot
Ism OF It's citizens. Indeed material pros
perlty has its dangers against which we
must guard; there is a tempsation to
weigh everything in the light of values,
ana when money is the sovereign ambi-
tion' chains, If they were golden, would be
almost acceptable.
war may come again, whether from
within or from without, and men must Re
as ready to obey the call of the country as
tney did twenty years ago. But not in
tlmes OF war only is there need of patriot
Ism. feace has its dangers, and demands
us sacrifices. During peace, as during war,
citlzens must be willing to fling to one
SIDE private Interests for the public veal.
hePuolcs, more than empires or mon
archles, afford occasions for the exercise
OF patriotism. 1t is our privilege to de-
clare by our votes who shall administer
the analrs of the country, what laws shall
% mace and executed. On the votes of
ner cltlzens, even more, perhups, than
on the swords of her soldiers, does the
republic depend for her life. How sacred
Is the right of suffrage! With what
care should it be exercised! The
guardian of nations, God, will at the
judgment OF each one, demand a no less
severe account of our civic than of our
private acts. He sins against country and
against religion who votes to put bad,
dangerous men in power, or who sells his
vote for gold. It is as base and as treas
onaole to dispose of ones vote for pelf
ne1ore the ballot box, as to surrender.
through cowardice or for a price, ones
musket on the battle field. There are foes
among us deadly foes of the republic
VINO are on hand for their own selfish pur-
poses to purchase US, whether in the ward
| caucus, or the municipal council, or the
state legislature, or even in the halls of
congress. There is need of patriotism to
spurn the offer and to smite with con-
tempt the vile tempter.
through the use of money and the power
OF intrigue and passion, in our cities more
partlcularly,the most criminal classes con-
trol our politics. The candidate for Office
feels that he must count with them. By
their influence on business interests thew
lead men, who would be ashamed of O di-
rect alliance with them to be silent over
tnelr dolngs, and to refrain from opposing
their Vaccinations. For such reasons laws
inscribed on our statute books, enacted in
support of law and order are mere dead
letters. Public opinion is defied by the
crlmlnal classes, or even made to bend to-
wards them. So potent have they become
that murderer secures in Chicago his &C.
qu1tal,and brings to celebrate his triumph
oVor law even public oficials-because
he is leader of those classes. Another
leader is himself murdered-one of the
largest funerals on record takes place
IN his honor, aldermen wing with one
| another to add eclat to the cortege, and
when the body is brought to Minnesota for
burial the magnificence of style is contin
ued, and public officials, too, step forward
to prove their respect to his memory. Can
the country long survive if such things are
permitted, or pass without rebuke? We
| need the patriotism that will cry down all
alliance with evil, that will be needless of
private interests for the sake of the public
veal, that will rally around the flags of
law and order, and in civil life, as we'll as
on the battlefield will hold as supreme the
honor and safety of the republic. Let us
hope that men will spring up in our cit
les and towns throughout the land who will
proclaim that law must be obeyed, and
when such leaders appear let us in legion
gather round them and sustain them by
our moral influence.
am delighted, my friends, to see this
immense Catholic demonstration on Deco
ration day. Patriotism is virtue blessed
and commanded by the Catholic church,
and you would be neither Catholics nor
Americans were you to be behind yonr
most ardent fellow-citizens in your loyalty
to the republic and in the warmth of soul
with which you manifest that loyalty. You
were true Americans when war called you
to the battlefield; be true Americans in
the exercise of your civic rights.
We will now kneel down in prayer for
the repose of the souls of our departed
soldiers, and we will also invoke Gods
grace upon ourselves, so that we may
fight SO well our battles against sin as to
be entitled after death to the possession
for all eternity of our best and true home
heaven.