The record-union., 1897-05-29

there 10000 ,0G0 men fought; there 6O0,-
900 men died; there $4,000, 900, 900 were
spent; all to ascertain and accomplish
that which is attainable by civil cleo
ton. Underneath the ancestors OIL
these trees lay the blessed dead and dy-
ing; there the wounded were neglected
for days; there the corpses remained un-
buried until decomposition had black
ened and swollen them and the eyeballs
protruded as large as apples; there pris-
oners were taken captive and put IN
huge pens and suffered from starvation
and exposure until many died and some
became imbecile and could recollect
neither the name of God nor the name
of mother, but continually moaned and
repeated 'Andersonville, Anderson
ville." Such were some of the sad re-
suits of a failure of the people to settle
their differences at the polls.
To warn the rising generation against
a recurrence of all this there might be
erected a line of statuary from our
Capitol, which represents peace, to that
grove, which represents war, and each
statue should be a symbol of political
crimes committed and to be avoided The
first marble should portray Ignorance. "
the next Corruption then Envy"
then Malice" then "Lawlessness,' then
'Rioting," then "Bloodshed, then An
archy," then Monarchy then 'slav-
cry"
Some of you may say I'VE came out
of the rebellion and retained our de-
mocracy and we will come out OF the
next struggle all right with a free ballot;
what mean these figures entitled Mon
archy, and 'Slavery?'" Not so fast my
friends; those who fight their country's s
battles suffer greatly; they sleep on the
ground; they march through heat, cold
and rain; they live on chicory-coffee and
hard-tack; they do their duty with the
absolute certainty that they cannot re-
ceive an adequate deward. A nation
cannot, and should not, do more than
this country is doing in the way of pay
ing pensions; for there is only one
method of giving rewards which will
equal the sacrifices and that is the
method followed by William, the con-
queror of England, who divided the cap
tured country among his soldiers; and
thenceforward monarchy and slavery
existed in Great Britain. Will the vic
torious army in our next civil war dis
band peaceably as we did in 1868?
This is the vital and uncertain problem
of the future and it's solution will depend
upon you. With all the earnestness of
our experience as veterans we entreat
you boys to be men in peace and men
in war; and if war comes then disband
at it's close and let a free and pure bal
lot box be the sole monarch over our dear
land. We declare that, in doing this,
you shall suffer much and that you shall
have no sufficient reward and we also
declare that a republican form of gov
ernment is worth the cost of your lives
if necessity requires.
You may see what we have seen. You
may be a. sailor volunteering on a for
lorn hope; so-called because so few can
return alive from it; you may be in a
small boat at dead of night; at the bow
projects a boom with shell or charge
row, or steam, towards the enemy's s
iron-clad around which floats a circle of
logs chained together at the ends; you
rush your little boat against the logs
and push them inwards and you stand
in the bow and lift the boom over the
logs and push them inwards and you
stand in the bow and lift the boom over
the logs and just as the explosive
touches the iron sides of the big ship you
pull the string; then you jump into the
water and swim for your life, for you
know that Immediately shot and shell
will sink your boat.
You may be soldier marching at sun
down along the highway when suddenly
shells will drop and burst in your regi-
ment; your line of battle is formed and
you charge up hill to drive away those
cannon: on arriving at the crest you
find that you are but three hundred feet
from several of the opposing regiments;
the shells and bullets make gaps in your
line of battle and you step into the front
rank and begin your duty of shooting
and killing. The smoke and the twilight
hide everything but the flags of the
enemy and the flashes of his guns; you
load and fire coolly; you steadily and
carefully aim under the flames of death
one hundred yards away; you know
(but you do not turn your head that the
man next on your right has fallen; you
know that your flag, only a few feet
away on your left, has fallen; and that a
comrade picks it up; and that he too
soon falls and that third man takes it;
and you know that when he falls it will
be your turn next; and you know that
you will hold it up with Gods help; and
you stand there shooting for half an
hour until every third man on both sides
is dead and wounded and until the
enemy withdraw into the night.
Young men, live and die for the ballot
box. 1t decreases the wrongs of the
people and it increases their rights. Re-
gard one who commits a crime agaisnt
the ballot as traitor to your country.