The Republican journal., 1892-09-29
Oak Knoll. Marcu -, 1856.
March of the Grand Army of the Re-
public.

N.l1 ,,.v ,hr renplt OF the entire coun-
nv. ,,a1,se i'm tht. waning excitement OF a
7nenaced endemic. the waxing heat OF Il
political campaign and the pressing de-
nand> of business activity to reflect upon
Yesterdays grand pageant III the nation
capital and its grand significance.
it was d spectacle which 10 other nation
On the Globe rau rival and one to make
every American heart beat with pl1de Tor
the country and gratitude tolts defenders.
In the munarcheS OF Europe grand army
review is a meeting OF military corps
regular soldiers called from active service
III barracks and posts OF duty. HE Grand
Army meeting IN Washington is reunion
If citizens who have left field and factory,
counting house and exchange, home ana
business. to unite in tlaternal greeting ana
atfectionate commemoration OF the days
when they responded to the call OF then
country and offered their lives as a Volun-
teer host that government OF the peo-
},le. 10y the people and for the people
should not perish from the earth.
As they then stood shoulder to shoulder
in war, SO thev now march side by side i'll
peace. not as Democrats or Republicans,
not as Catholics or Prote>tants not as ma
tive OF foreign born, not as white OF black,
not as rich or poor, not as employers or en-
ployes. but Us equal citizens OF the nation,
gathered under the common banner OF the
Republic and animated by common
spirit OF AnericaniSm.
Though banded together for quarter
OF :; century, during which period they
have come together yearly, tins Is tier
IirSt meeting in the capital OF the nation
since they DOTTED the uniform ami lald
aside the arms OF the soldier at the close
II the war What a contrast between the
march OF yesterday and the great army re-
view of 1853 in the same thoroughtares.
Then the spectacle was moving columns
If victorious soldiers returned from his
tOric battle fields armed and uniformed,
stepping to martial strains and carrying
tattered banners. AS conquerors they
marched t1iumphantly through the streets
NJ the capital which they had so nobly de
Tended. Across the Potomac lay the great
South devastated by war, with four mil
lion blacks freed but not enfranclised,
with commonwealth appearing not as
sovereign States but as conquered pro-
vinces, its Industries paralyzed, its people
impoverished its future doubtful. In the
North and West the people. though jubi-
liant with victory, We're depressed with the
sacrifices and cXactions of the greatest
wal known to history. Business and in
dushy We're crippled and homes by the
thousand darllened by mourning.
What a transformation the spectacle of
to-day marks, Time has thinned the
ranks of the veterans who yesterday
marched through the streets of the capt.
tai, and most OF the chieftainS who led
Them to victory-Glant, sherman, Sheri-
dan and others-have gone to the great
beyond. They see floating from the dome
of the Capitol a flag with fortyfour stars,
symbolic of Il Republic OF siX1y-tive mil
lion people, united. contented, prosper
Gus. Looking southwark they behold not
foes but fellow citizens of a common coun-
try. They see every State a sovereign.
every man a freeman. They see a land
no longer showing traces Of deadly con
tiict, but signs OF industrial and CONNER
cal activity on every side. There. as well
as in the North and West. all betokens
the blessings of peace, contentment and
prosperity.
These are the blessings of a nation say
ed from destruction. The veterans now
gathered in Washington represent the host
Of patriots who left their homes and went
to the field for their country To them
the people are indebted for the blessings
they enjoy, and also the assurance that
the spirit of the citizen soldiery, who once
guarded the nation, may ever be trusted
to defend it against attack from any quar-
ter. New York Herald, Sept. DIST