St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-05-30
DAY.

BY law OF congress and the several
state legislatures, and by the higher
law of popular agreement. this day is
set apart as the time when tribute shall
be paid to the memory of the soldiers
who fell in defense Of the integrity of
our government. 1t was indeed "a grand
army that. forsaking the burrows of the
field, the peaceful pursuits of the
learned professions and the busy work.
shops marched IN solid phalanx to the
field of battle. All were animated by
Ii impulse; all were filled with the
divine fire of patriotism and love of lib
erty. Men who had been reared in
luxury sacrificed all to endure the hard
ships of the camp and the dangers of
the battlefield. Tens of thousands left
their bones bleaching beneath the torrid
suns of the Southern cline; thousands
more were brought HON 10 a sepuIcher
among scenes with which they had
been familiar in life, and thousands
more lived for years under the burden
of %grievouS wounds received and disease
contracted II the service. but at last
have attained rest beneath the green
sward that matches the homes of the
dead.
1t is not an unwholesome sentiment
that prompts the living to pay rever-
ence at least once a year to these patriot
dead; it is not a useless ceremony to
strew their graves with Natures most
beautiful tributes to humanity; it is
not a senseless custom to deliver a glow
ing eulogy of the deeds of valor of those
who died that a government of the
people, for the people and by the people
should not perish from the earth" The
memory of the brave, perhaps, needs no
such external manifestations of esteem
certainly those that were living while
the nation was passing through its fiery
ordeal do not need to be reminded of
the debt they W to the Union dead.
Knowing how imminent the peril was,
and how near to completion the con-
spiracy to sever the union of states had
progressed, the wonder is that wisdom
and power enough could be commanded
to circumyent the traitors. These an.
nual ceremonies serve to keep in re-
membrance certain salient facts, and to
keep from s%lumberlng hat spirit of
patriotism upon which the American
republic must forever rely for its MAIN
tenance.
This is not a day for partisan strife
or contention. There were brave SOL
diers from all parties who performed
their whole duty to the country. Nc
Clellan, Hancock, Meade, Hal.eck,
Rosecrans, Thomas. Sickles and Slo-
cum, lifelong Democrats. were ever in
the front rank, and, with Grant, Sher-
nan and Sheridan, did all IN their
power to preserve the Union. There
was NJ question in the hour of peril as
to the politics of a soldier. He was
needed for fighting, not for political
controversy. And the rank and file
were about equally divided between
the two parties. 1t was not a Repub-
lican or a Democratic war. Members
of each party did their full duty, and
each is entitled to an equal share in the
fruits of victory.
All in our midst should unite today
in doing honor to the patriot dead. And
when proper recognition shall have
been paid to them the survivors should
not be forgotten. Many of them are
far from enjoying all the comforts of
life. Old age and disease have made
inroads upon their physical powers.
and many Of them are unable to earn
the luxurles to which they have been