Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1895-09-12

| Tor the old soldiers or the republic.
There are Others. l know, who do not
recognize the inestimable value of your
services If loyalty was ever in their hearts
it has faded out. If respect for the brave
boys in blue, who amid untold hardships
and Undesirable perils took our good
ship of state through the storm that ragged
from 1861 to 1865 and brought her safely
out upon the waters of peace and pros
perity, ever possessed their souls it has
long since fled from them. They enter
tain for you gentlemen nothing but
hostility, for you only words Of derision
| Plutarch relates that the father of
Themistocles took his son down to the
side of the sea and pointed out to him the
old galleys which had been cast upon the
shore and were left there to decay. He
did this to dissuade his son from entering
public lifs. Once, said he, these vessels
| CALAMITY sailed the sea Drawing the tenn
pests, carrying the merchandise of many
nations, and conveying our countrymen
as they engaged the enemy in battle upon
the ocean. They were then the reliance
and pride of Greece. But the day of their
usefulness has past and their great and
gallant services are forgotten. They re
ceive nothing but neglect from those
whom they once so much benefited and to
whose proud achievements they so largely
contributed
So, said he will the people treat you if
you shall enter public life You may
| serve them we'll. BY your wisdom, energy
and courage you may be the savior of your
country but when your services shall be
no longer needed, the state, while it is en-
Joying be fruits Of your labors and strug-
giles, will cast You aside with ingratitude
and even enmity toward you.
| This proved to be the fact Them
| lstocles, ambitious, restless, energetic, en-
dowcd with the greatest mental qualities.
entered public life He became the first
man In Greece For time he was their
inspiring genius, and It was his mstchess
ability, the fertility of his mental re-
sources, his courage and patriotism which
saved his country from being overwhelmed
and crushed by the Persians. And yet he
" as afterward ostracized from his native
and and died an exile in the country
whose armies he had defeated while he
was fighting In defence of Greece.
Could there be ii more fitting illustra-
tion Of the manner in which the old soldiers
of the Union armies are sought to be
treated In certain quarters? When the life
OF the nation was imperiled by those who
are now shaping its policy, you rushed
periodically to the front TO save it, Then
you were laudcd on every hand. You were
the reliance and pride of tho nation. The |
country looked to you as its only hope of
salvation Men and women listened with |
bsted breath to hear of your victories or
defeats You went forth with strong arms |
and brave hearts, sturdy quick of eye and |
rcsolute Of soul, to fight your country's |
great battle for existence You bravely, |
calamity, hcroically met your .country's |
enemies and conquered them. When you |
came back from the battle fields, where
you had made your country forever
illustrious by your proves and courage,
every rcbcllious state had been sllbducd,
every rebel had been killed or captured and
disarmcd, and the nations flag floatcd
unchallenged over a restored union and
reunited nation. Your country had
triumphed through your patriotic efforts,
your great self-sacrifice, your heroic
achievements,
Every loyal man in the land honored
you and was earnest that the nation should
recognize it's incalculablc debt to you in a
material way. They would have no brave
soldier deprived through poverty of the
comforts of life
But now 30 years intervene between us
and the close of the war. You soldiers
OF the republic have grown old The hand
of time hes been laid heavily upon many
Of you The struggles and suffering of
war made inroads upon the health and
constitutions of most all who endured the
hardships of war, and you feel their effect
moro today than when you had come from
the army, still quickencd by the vitality
of youth. And there is n class of men,
too many Of them in power who, either
forgctfll of your brave services In the
days of your prime and vigor, or never
having appreciated them, would cast YOU
like old, neglected hulls, upon the shore to
suffer and die a. you may, uncarcd for
and unrccogni2cd by the uation.
But 1t will not be done While the old
soldier is the subject Of abuse In certain
quarters the hearts of the people are
patiotic and they beat as warmly today
for the old soldiers of the republic as they
did for you gentlemen when - years ago
you were in the midst of your great fight
The nation will not dshonor itself for
any long period by repudiating the old
heroes of 81 and '65 But 1t will not fall
at the proper time to express its emphatic
disapprOval of those who abuse the power
given them, defy the wishes of the nation
and cast disgrace upon their country by
representing and ignoring its patriotic
spirit and Its grateful feelings toward the
brave old veterans Of the republic.
Gentlemen, have you ever reflected upon
the stupendous results Of your great vic
tory What they have been is beyond our
power to estimate. Your success was not
only your country's triumph but equally
the triumph of mankind Ii has been an
inspiration to every liberty loving heart
on the round globe 1t gave hope to the
Liberals of France and broke the chains
of her despotism. Today stronger and
more prosperous than ever before, she re-
joioes In the benefits of free government,
Brazil has followed suit and now wears
the robes Of republic and little Hawaii, |
that group of beautiful Islands which lie
like gems in the bosom of the Pacific
ocean, though hampered and thwarted |
where she should have received encourage
ment and support, stands up in the panoply |
of free government. Every government
on the globe has received the impulse of
liberty from your great victory for human |
rights and has been improved by it. What |