Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1898-11-05
IT wave, Ger the land of the free and

the home of the brave" And some
went away from their happy homes in
the sunny south with the sweet mel
ody upon their lips,
Away down south in Dixie,
In Dixie land we'll take u stand,
TO live and die in Dixie"
J But when the war was over, and the
God of our nation brought the eagle OF
victory to nestle with the sweet dove
OF peace upon the banner Of the stars
and stripes, our brave boys returned to
the land they love, then a grateful
, nation Joined them all in a mighty an
them, filling the world with melody, un-
til the forest isles echoed the strain,
mountains and valleys r~everberated the
glorious song, until it was heard by the
liberty loving people in the islands OF
the seas, startling tyrants on their
thrones as we shout our jubilee:
1.-The union OF lakes, the union of lands
The union Of states non can sever,
The union OF hearts, the union Of
hands
And the flag Of the union forever"
A SUCCESSFUL WAR.
The war with Spain was the most
successful ever waged. And yet at its
beginning our country was not prepar-
ed for war. Our president exhausted
every resource Of diplomacy In the in
terest of an honorable peace. With
dignity and patience and discretion,
and a firmness OF purpose hey end all
praise, he met popular clamor, in Of
fetal circles and without, in resistance
OF Incorporate haste, making ready,
meantime as best he could, for the in
evitable. When wal came he prosecut-
ed it with a vigor and a wisdom that
has made his name immortal. And
the solution OF the great problems that
will result from this war the president
can be trusted to display the same
! courage, diplomacy and wisdom that
characterized his actions during the
war.
When that war ended all the world
knew that it had been ~splendidly plan
ned and executed. The press Of Europe
and all honest publications in the Unit
ed States gave unstinted praise OF the
alike in preparing for the conflict and
lighting it to an early end. The three
great events OF the wor, two naval and
one land engagement, were each and
all usch victories that they stand
alone. History has no parallel for any
OF those battles. Measured by results
accomplished in proportion to cost,
each and all Of them and the war as a
tCtality, eclipsed all records. This Is
the verdict of the civilized world.
While the war on the political cam
paign Jagged, for there was more pat
riotism than politics in the hearts and
minds Of the people. Who cared to
talk of coinage, of tariff, of currency
reform. or any other issue; who cared
to remember that the people were not
all of one mind while our ships were
sinking the enemy's fleets and our ar
mics were moving on the Philippines,
Cuba and Puerto Rico? But now we
hear men whose selfishnes sand greed
70: office rises above their love OF fair
play and above their patriotism, VII
ifS ing and abusing government officials
on their conduct OF their different de-
partments during the var and accus-
inu them OF almost all thee rimes IN
the criminal calander, and all this too
in the vain hope of injuring the ad-
mipistration for political purposes, ex-
pecting to thus poison the minds OF
the people with thep urpose in view OF
electing a democratic congress In Nov
ember next.
OF course there may have been some
mistakes in placing in the field an ar
my of a quarter Of million men n
ending a war with them in 113 days.
OF course some incompetent men have
secured commands. OF course there
was sickness and death that might
have been prevented If all the officers
and enlisted men had known months
age as much as they know now. But
when it is realized that u people
forced themselves into thewar at once
during the worst season Of the year in
an unhealthy as well as a foreign eli
mate, while our soldier boys were un-
accustomed to hardships, leaving as
they did their positions behind store
| counters, in banks, in Offices, from In
door positions, to go into the marshes
! beneath a tropical u amid malaria
and fevers, it is very remarkable that
such a small number of lives were lost
SMALL NUMBER LOST.