The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1895-06-07

presence Of shipwreck or earthquake or pesti-
lence or battle. but IL Is only at the conscious
ness Of the perils into which its undaunted soul
is about to bear it. Pirates and pugflists have
courage and murderers face ignominious death
on the scaffold often with unshrinking and i'm
purtable fortitude. 1t Is the cause for which
men die that sanctifies the sacrifice
Whether upon the gibbet high
Or in the battles van,
The noblest place for man to die
Is where he dies for man.
Ideas Comrades, are immortal They never
die They cannot be annihilated. Defeat does
not destroy them. War decides nothing except
in resolution. Had the rebellion ended other
wise had the Union been destroyed and the
constitution obliterated. had the statue of liber
base, and the mouldering iuins been mirrored
in the placid waters of the Potomac, had
ToomSs fulfilled his insolent menace and call
ed the roll Of his slaves in the shadow of Bun;
ker Hill, had slavery been made national and
liberty sectional in the agonies of our desola-
ton would the bravery Of the conquerers have
reconciled US to the consequences of their tri-
umph? / confess for myself that should have
been q malcontent and conspirator to the end OF
my days. / should not have acQuiesced in any
treaty or compact that surrendered the fran
chises Of self government nor should have
ceased to aspire that all men everywhere might
be free, and that in some renewal Of conflict
the Union might be restored. the creed of hu-
man liberty no longer an empty formula S.ad nor
The Stars and Bars might have been triumph
ant but should have kept upon some secret
but sacred alter, the Stars and Stripes as the
emblem Of the honor and the symbol of the glo-
~ of my country, at which / should have
taught my children 10 worship with patriotic
devotion. At that shrine should have taught
them that freedom was right and slavery was
wrong; that nationality was better than State
sovereignty and secession; that perjury was q
crime; that loyalty was virtue, and that those
who offered their lives for freedom, for nation
atty, for loyalty. are not to be placed in the
same category of honor with those who fought
for slavery, for secession and faithless perfdy.
For these reasons and others to which 1 shall
soon allude. / approve and applaud the action
of Lincoln Post Topeka. in their resolution
condemning as inappropriate and uniting, and
disrespectful TO the memory of the Union dead,
the erection and dedication of Confederate
monument at Chicago. The debt we owe the
martyrs Of liberty cannot be discharged by
casting flowers with each returning May upon
their grassy graves They relinquished life
and love and happiness. not alone because they
were brave. but because they were patriots.
We owe 1t to them. we owe 1t TO ourselves, TO the
present that enjoys and the future that is to in
herit the results of their sacrifice. to declare
that they died in defense of liberty, of the I'm
len. o.. constitutional self government, and the
inalienable rights Of men, and that they did not
die in vain.
The South is poisoning with monuments to
the Confederate dead as meadow with dande-
microscope or telescope from the Potomac to
the Gulf, from the Rio Grand to Cape HaIteras
for tablet or statue or shaft or column to the
memory Of those who died for the Union Let
them eul0gfze their cause, worship their heores
wear the gray and carry the Stars and Bars If
they will. There is no other nation that would
not rebuke and punish such demonstrations;
but they are our brothers. They have accepted
the results of the war In good faith. thew saw
These are matters Of etiquette and prOpriety
they must decide for themselves. But when
they affirm that Lincoln and Davis Grant and
lee, Logan and Jackson. are equally entitled to
the veneration and reverence of mankind and
that God only knows which was right 1t is bias
phemous sacrilege which demands rebuke and
condemnation.
Thirty years ago the war closed and the sur
vivors of the Union armies were marshalled at
Washington in the grand review. They assem-
bled in the shadow of the great dome of the
Capitol they had saved, the air vibrated with
the drum beat and bugle blast to which they
has SO often marched to victory. the transitory
splendor of the vernal sun illumined pageant
of imposing glory. and in that changing sky
red as its dawn, white as its clouds, blue as its
noonda y deeps, and glittering with its stars
flashed and hoated the splendor of the flag
they had made free. 1t was the birthday of the
redeemed and regenerated Republic. A host
that no man could number welcomed with tu-
multuous acclaim the victorious legions that
marched from morn to night and from morn to
night again with marshal tread and the roll of
homes enforce the laws and defend the honor
of people determined to be free. And above
those resOlute and war worn s4uadrons with
glittering bayonets, and cleaning swords, and
above the faded and eloquent ensigns inscribed
with the names of the battles in which they
had been borne 10 victory flashed and fiOated
the glory OF the flag. For the last time they
saluted the Commander-in-chief and their great
captains; they halted; they furled their flags;
they stacked their guns, and the greatest army
in history, without disorder or tumult dissolv-
ed and vanished like the fabric of a vision, and
the soldiers became citizens again. 1t was one
of the sublime episodes of the world. 1t was
the final proof of the capacity of the American
people for self government
As we are about 10 separate, perhaps to meet
no more, let us remember that Kansas holds in
her tender and fertile breast no more priceless
treasure than the sacred dust Of those who died
that this Nation under God might have new
birth of freedom and that this government of
the people by the people and for the people
shall not perish from the earth. Let us turn to
the duties Of the future with renewed and deep
er appreciation of the blessings. We enjoy
through the sacrifices of those who fought that
popular self government might not perish from
the earth. Sublime and impressive aspiration,
fit to be engraved at the portal Of every school
upon the living tablets of every patriot heart
that Government of the people by the people |
and for the people may not perish from the
earth.
The address was generously ap-
plauded, particularly the reference to
the dedication of the Rebel monument
in Chicago, and at its close scores of
the audience crowded onto the plat
form to shake hands with the speaker. |
1t was announced that the Senator |
W ould meet the old soldiers and their
friends informally at the Opera House
in the evening, and so in spite of the
rain which fell steadily from six
o O'Clock. the hall was nearly filled
when Capt. Ewing called for order
and introduced Senator Ingalls,. Mr..
ingalls, had been very reluctant to
try to make a speech at the Hall, as |