The Indianapolis journal., 1897-05-30
NOT FRIENDS OF THE UNION.

The men who fought and died in the ar
mics of the North offered life and gave
it for the Union. The preservation of the
Union was the single inspiration which led
men of all parties in the North to enlist
when the Union had been assailed by the
attack on Fort Sumter. THE Union for
ever" was the cry which filled the ranks
of the Federal armies to the end. Others
labored to force other issues into the strug-
gle, but if the Union had not been the great
issue the Federal cause would not have
trSmphed
1t is well to always remember this fact,
but on Memorial day it should be empha-
sized. The Importance of maintaining a
Union which cost so much should be the
central idea in the commemoration serv-
ices. TO pay high tribute to the men who
died for national unity and then to follow
it with words which will tend to foster
prejudices and feuds which will keep alive
sectional jealousies is gross inconsistency.
1t is to praise the dead for fighting for
principle which we are striving to destroy
AS set forth in its preamble, the first object
of the trainers of the Federal Constitution
was to form a more perfect Union" To
save that Union was the mission of the
Lincoln government and the two and a
half millions of men it called to battle
To perpetuate that Union, to make it so
real that it will make the sentiment of
nationalism the most potential in the hearts
of the people, is the duty of every good cit
izen. Consequently, any man who shall be
so ignorant of the issue involved in the
war as to use Memorial day as the occasion
to revive old strifes or to create new sec
tional jealousies should be regarded as an
enemy TO that nationalism which was the
chief end of that more perfect Union"
The man who, in the pursuit of his voca-
ton as a self-seeking demagogue, strives
to array one section of the country against
another, makes war upon the Union, not as
effectively as did Jefferson Davis, but to
the best of his ability. The ranter who is
always assailing the integrity of the h gler
courts and declaring that legislative bodies
are owned by corporations is striving, as
far as it is in his power, to destroy the
confidence of the people in popular gov
ernment, is secessionist and a foe to
American institutions.
The war for the Union involved the ques-
tion of obedience to law and the mainte-
nance of orderly government. union
which has not for it's aim the security of
life and property would be a mockery, The
best methods to secure the best results to
community are proper objects of discus
sion, and the criticism of policies is a duty
4
vocates defiance of the law and the resist
ance of properly constituted authority is
an enemy to that union which is founded
in obedience to law.
The men who gave life for the Union gave
it to maintain good government. The lead
ing veteran organization formed at the
close of the war and imbued with the spirit
of those who did not survive the shock of
war, pledged itself to promote purity in
public affairs" To the thousands who fell
in battle and who suffered to save the In
ion there was simply a flag to be rescued.
There was no appropriation in sight. Camp
followers, contractors and others might
profit by the war, but the mass of those
who enlisted put life and health in the issue
that the Union might be preserved, that the
States might become the arena of a gov
ernment of the people, by the people and
for the people," Those men who are un-
faithful or corrupt in public position have
no right to applaud the men who died in
saving the Union. They are not patriots,
and would not go to the front to-day if
men were needed there to defend the Union
with life. They would skulk with the
cur11 -fnIlOWerS