Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1888-06-01

y
and umnauly sub erfuge to secure a
few dollars 10 which they were not
outiilcd hv law. The fault is not all
90 Do side of the Government. and
ihcu my Comrades.i, is our very pride
all boost tha, We once endured hard-
ship uncomplainingly for our coun-
trg. Has iii, soldiorly element with
i'm as lost its force: Will we ira e
or proud record. for place upon
he penSiou-list obtained through
fraud? VIII We hang the head with
shame for the sake Ola poor pittance
which At best would scarcely keep the
wolf from the door. Nay rather.
welcome toll and privalion, and a
place al the county house when
work is done. Welcome any degree
of poverty, sooner than dishonor.
What our Country gives us, let us
Thankfully receive. but never be
either beggarS or thieves at the pub
lie crib
Al the very worst, if we should be
ungratefully ignored or forgotten, we
may each one have the proud salts
faction of dying like soldier.
And here comes naturally another
reason why we are planted here in
this land. i l. to show TO the world
how vast concourse of yeomanry
fresh from ,hc pillow, the forge, the
bench ami the counting housewife
IA lndS We, so. | With the crime of the
factory and furnace, the mill and the
mine. or soft and tender from lack
Of friction against this hard world.
nave suddenly grown into an effect
i've army whose campaigning for
real efficiency, loses nothing in com
parison with that of the trained
.ceiou, OF thcold world, II is to show
how such an army after four years OF
military discipline, as suddenly turn
ed loose again upon tn country, set
Ties quietly back into the old grooves
cheats lts swords into plowshares and
it, spears into pruning hooks" and
retircsi into the pursuits ofpe cs,with
rs littlc disturbance as the Fourth of
July-calms into he fifth The
even current and peaceful surface of
today. 5 only a part OF the same
river which was yesterday disturbed
by tie rocks beneath Yesterday
he Lachine rapids-to day the calm
-. Lawrence OF hundred miles be-
low. OF this, America may well be
proud We often hear it said that
upon our success or failure, i'll this
and. depends the future of republics
the world over, and it may be this is
rue. II 50 what a tremendous re
possibility rests upon us,as a nation
and necessarily upon each individual
fhe whole world Is looking at us
With esaer eyes they watch us from
beyond the sca-nGide anxious that
we may succeed. other some with III
disguised satisfaction over our mi,-
takes and evident relish for the
anticipation OF cur failure.
We may say sometimes, In boast
iui vein. that our government is no
Iougcr on trial, that it is an estsblis
.d at. Certain corner stones are
-l0lsh-d. bul until the super
mcuHe IS more firmly settled into
ace. rieIe age REASONS which forbid
oar too san2unlne expression as yet
md certainly give 10 our boastin &
the appearance of bad taste. Nations
no less than individuals have oc.
asion TO heed the exhortatiou, "Let
him tina, tldnkotn ne standeth, take
accl. lest he fall" "iiappy is the
aan that fcareth always" and happy
IT, that people with whom this kind.
.ed maEim has force, Eternal vigi.
.ancc L. tho prlee 1t liberty Our
work Is not yet done. Tho answer
TO ihe question of the text, is being
formulated. but is not yet complete
II have iusl hinled at APPOINT or two
of that answer aud have time for
no hing more save this. Remember
nat even that slang phrase Of the
west, has meaning, This is Gods
country" Let Us, by building a
loolc individual character and by lett
M the ballot box feel that character
by life Of sobriety and industry,
md by a careful yet fearless exercise
If our rights as citizens, keep this
continuously, Gods country.
One word my comrades: Let our
ives be such that no stigma shall at
zach to u, or 10 our order, either pOlit-
tical. social or moral. Let our habits,
our cmployments, our associations,
our aims he worthy of the flag we
love and Of that God who babe it float
upon the breezcs of this western
world
i.ot as bequeath to our children,
these sons and daughters Of veter-
ans, a name aud fame so fair. that
every child amor Z them all, shall
be proud to say my father was an
y soldier"
ANA uow rs means of inspiration
toward the right, the pure and the