Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1896-05-30

n oihucc ut tuc t7hst.
Four years of blood. Four years of hos
tile experiences. Four years Of ghastli
ness. Four years Of Rravcdigging. -Four
years of funerals, collins, shrouds, hearscs,
dirges. Mourning mourning, mourningl
II was hell let loose. What time Of
waiting for news! Morning paper and
evening paper scrutinizcd for intelligence
from tho boys ut the front. First. an
nouncemcnt that the battle must occur the
next day. Then the news Of the battle
going on. On tho following day still going
on. Then news Of 30, 600 slain and of the
names Of tho great generals who had fallen,
but no news about the private soldiers.
Waiting for news! After many days a
load Of wounded going through the town
or city, but no news from our boy. Then
long list Of wounded and long list OF
the dead and long list Of the missing.
And among the last list our boy.
When missing! How missings Who
saw him lasts Missingl Missingi Was
he In the woods or by tho stream! How
was he hurt: Missing Missingl What
burning prayers that he may yet be heard
from. In that awful waiting for news
many "A life persisted. The strain of anx-
iety was too great. That wife's brain
gave way that first week after tho battle,
and over and anon she walks the floor OF
the asylum or looks out OF the window as
though she expected some one To como
along the path and up the steps rs she
soliloquizcs, Missing; missing"
What made matters worse, all this might
have been avoided There was no moro
need Of that war than at this moment
should plunge dagger through your
heart. There were few Christian phi
lanthropists In those days, scoffcd at both
by north and south, who had the right OF
II. II they had been heard on both sides,
we should have had no war and no slavery.
II was advised by those Christian philan-
thropists. Let the north pay In money
for the slaves rs property and set them
free" The north snid, I'VE cannot afford
to puy" The south said, We will not
sell the slaves anyhow" But the north
did pay In war expenses enough TO pur
chase the slaves, and the south was COM
PEELED to give up slavery anyhow. Might
not the north better have paid the money
and saved the lives of 500, 900 brave men,
and might not the south better have sold
out slavery and saved her 900 600 brave
nenf I swcnr you by the graves OF your
tttfltFN anu UTUtItTS ana SOILS 10 u UtW
hatred for tho champion curse OF the uni
versc-wnr. o Lord God. with the hot
scst bolt Of thine omnipCtcnt indignation
strike that monster down forever and ever.
lmprison 1t In the deepest dungeon 81 the
eternal pcnitcntiary. Bolt IL I'm with all
the iron ever forged In cannon or nodded
into howitzcrs Clcaye IL with all the
sabers that ever glittcrcd in battle and
L.. A A..
ever caused. Let IL feel all the corsiagra-
tions Of the hOmestcads 1t has ever de-
stroyed. Deeper down let IL fall and In
flercer fame let II burn till IL has gathered
into its hcart all tho suffering Of eternity
as well rs time. In tho name OF the
millions of graves of its victims, / de-
nounce IL. Tho nations need moro the
spirit of treaty and less Of tho spirit Of war.
why War Is DetestabIc.
War is more CHASTITY now than once, not
only because Of the greater dcstructiveness
OF Its weaponry, but because now IL takes
down the best men, whereas once 1t chiefly
took down the worst Bruce, In l7i7, in
his institutions Of Military Law" said
of the European armies Of his day, IF all
Infamous persons and such ms have com
mittcd capital crimes. heretics atheists
and all dnstnrlly feminine men, were
weeded out Of the army, IL would soon bc
reduced Ia pretty moderate number.
FloRging and mean pay madc them still
more iRnoblc. Officers were appointed to
see that each soldier drank his ration of u
pint of spirits day There were noble
men In battle. hut the moral character of
the army then was 95 per cent lower than
the moral character Of nm army today. BY
So much Is war now tho more dctcstable
because IL destroys the picked men of the
nations
Again by this national ceremony we
mean to honor courage. Many of these
departed soldiers were volunteers, not con
scripts. and many u those who were draft
ed might have provided substitute or got