Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-11-29

civil war barred their breasts to the enemy
Who were they that freely gave their lives for
our country sake?
Were they Generals, who, standing in the
background of battle, stood in the conspicuous
foreground with the people? We're they states
men who purchased substitutes and stayed
home to win public applause by patriotic
speeches-safe in the lap of luxury to climb to
fame's dizzy height?
Look around you and you will observe many
battlescarred veterans of our late war; some
have lost limb, some are suffering from the
effects of confinement in those Southern prison
hels; none are entirely free from the effects of
exposure and hardship they suffered for you
and me, for our home, our loved ones and our
beloved Union. Who are these men, where did
they come FROM and where do you find them
now? Did they not, on taking up the instru-
ments of war, abandon the implements.of in
dustry and have they not after achieving VIC.
tory for their country and fame for their lead
ers, resumed their industrial callings? Were
they not and are they not now producers?
Why do l call your attention to these facts? !?
Because would bury in obliyion's depths the
thought that labor is unworthy the honor with
which we to-day invest her. Is it not clear to
one and all that he in whose honor we to-day
assemble was representative of the most i'm
portant element OF our social, moral, poliIi-
cal and industrial life, the bulwark of
our freedom and our Union? We
rear statues to Kings because they are Kings
We rear statues to Generals to impress the
young with loyalty and devotion to their coun-
try; to imbue them with a sense of their re-
sponsibility and the high reward which accom-
panies its brave and intelligent discharge. In
like manner and for like purpose we honor the
statesman and composer. They deserve the
honor and the lessons taught are of vast benefit
in molding the minds of The young. Is it not
necessary also. to clothe labor and mechanical
genius with dignity and honor? We cannot all
be Generals, statesmen or composers of soul
stirring songs. When Solomon called his chief
artisans together to confer honor on the greatest
among them, that honor did not fall to the
sculptor, the decorator or the worker in fine
gold. but to the toil-stained and obscure black
smith, who had come unbidden to the feast, but
without whose skill in fashioning tools all
others would have been powerless.
The tendency to honor the decorator, the
figure-head, and forget the blacksmith, reached
its climax yesterday. To-day will begin its de-
cline, and the wisdom of Solomon is emphs
sized.
Young men, which of us can look upon the
statue of a mechanic erected by the spOntane
admiring co-workers, and say there is no Just
recompense for labor? Will we not many of
US, from this day forward look upon life of
toll at the bench, the lathe or the forge, with a
more than ftful recognition of its importance? :?
Do not the possibilities OF toll appear broader
and capable of more beneficence than ever be-
fore? Yes, my friends, labor is honorable and
deserving. We cannot, however, overlook the
fact that its enemies are numerous, malignant
and aggressive. Looking into the dim future,
we see great need of just such men as he whom
we to-day seek to honor; men gifted with genius
and endowed with sense OF equal justice to
all.
With the light OF the present we are enabled