Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1889-06-05

include the living veterans, and their im
mortal dead. & '@s~ ~ '=t.%.
veterans, the Republio'owes you a debt of
gratitude 1t caninever :pay. 1t ts true, you
are not entirely without the reward Of patri-
otto service. half grateful nation has in
scribed your names upon its annals and ad-
ministered partially to your wants. Your
neighbors regard you with respect and affec-
ton, Your children feel proud whenever
they hear mentioned Bull Run, Fort Donald
son. Malvern Hill, Gettysburg and the Wilder
ness, But this Is not enough. No Union SOL
der should be dependent for the necessaries
OF life, much less a beggar. Oh, for shamel
that a great, rich and prosperous Republic
Ike our own should ever permit any of it's de-
fenders to become supplants for aid! We see
men about us who seemingly begrudge the old
soldier the little pittance of a pension which
he receives. We hear the scoffing vulgar ex-
claim, "The old soldier wants the EARTH" The
two great political parties have made sweet.
promises to your ears. but broke them to your
hope. We have witnessed for years in our
own city, where SO much sympathy has been
expressed for the veteran an honest, re-
spected and worthyt citizen, wasting away by
disease contracted, and wound re
ceived in the service Of his country
passed by, and others like him, and q
"hewer of wood and drawer of water in the
lazar.house of politics, selected to fill lu-
crative office in the gift OF the government.
When l recall the long weary march, the
hunger and thirst you experienced, the reek
ing hospital OF death, the horrors of Belle Isle,
Andersonville and Libby prisons, 1 here and
now, as your friend, hurl back the libel in the
unRrateful scotfer's teeth, and most solemnly
declare that the nation has not paid unto you
its debt Of gratitude. All this country has to
give, all that grateful hearts have to render
up, should be yours as your rightful heritage
for the priceless treasure of..free government,
A wounded soldier son the battlefield of
Gettysburg. said: ut isn't much want-only
! that you will get something soft to put under
my head" 1t isn't much you want; you are
making your last fight; your burdens will
| soon be unloOsedlforever:a all the nation can
| do at best islto ease the shocks and jars of
life.
My friends, these services can be of no ben.
efit to the dead, but they ought to be to US who
are living. When the service of commemora.
tton is ended, let US 90 hence and mediate on
| all that it shall have taught US. You have re-
| Gently been told Of what it cost to form and
construct our temple of liberty. You are re-
minded by this sacred occasion of the blood
and treasure required to preserve and protect
| it against the traitors sword. Remember, it il
yours to protect against RIGHTEOUSNESS, crime
and irreligion; against the fires OF faction, OF
| party spirit, and of the lust OF Office, power
| and wealth.
Nearly two hundred and fifty years ago
John Milton wrote: "A commonwealth ought
| to be as one huge Christian parsonage, one
| mighty growth and stature of an honest man
| as big and compact in virtue as in body" AnC
| yet,in ten short years, Milton saw the Com
nonNealt b. founded by Cromwell, and whicl
he pronounced "of God, :" and defended Will
his mighty brain and pen. ,supplanted by
monsrehy-a licentious king, surrounded b,
minister's OF the basest pleasures; while thu
amount of money spent by the king in de
bauchery exceeded only the amount spent il
bribing the House OF Commons.
The genius of free government admonlshe6
us not to forget the l. ssons which she ha:
taught. Great deeds and great men make
great nations. Greece has the same hills anc
the same valleys it had two thousand years
ag'--the same soft sky bends over it to-day
as in years gone by-but the great men who
made it the seat Of culture, learning and free
dom. like Greece ITSELF are no more.
Nearly all the great champions of the cause
for which the soldier died have passed away
The very spirits OF the patriotic dead CRY
aloud against the evils of to-day. Trusts anc
unlawful combinations. like the lice in Egypt
have come to vex our people. The Capitol Of
the nation has become infested with a huge
army of ofice-seekers, flushed with the sense
of their patriotic services, to get their re
ward. The power OF executive patronage ha
stimulated and intensified all the bad propen
stiles of free government. Bribery stalks un
blushingly in the council chamber of tht
state, while the corruptng use OF money ex
hibits It's plenary power at the ballot box.
1t'has cost me an effort to say these things
but the lessons of history teach us that tht
decay of 4 republic begins with it's soul. Re
publics sink beneath the tide OF time. no
alone by the arm OF the traitor, but by tht
weight Of its own corruption. 1t will be vel
for us if we shall heed the lesson Of this sa
crod hour. Happy. if we shall 50 perform ou
duty, that those who shall come after US, OF
some such day as this, shall be able to sa,
that which was saved and perpetuated for
them-through suffering in prison-pen an(
amid the blood and carnage Of battle-neithe
ease, luxury or the fear of man could prevail
on them to barter away.
And then the dead, the noble dead,'
"Shufl not have died in vain.