Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1898-10-28

1t wave. Der tho 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 our stand,
To live and die in, Dixie"
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. III brave boys returned to
the land they love, then a grateful
nation Joined them all in a mighty an
them. flling the world with melody, UNI
til the forest isles echoed the strain,
mountains and valleys reverberated 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 lone 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 wal. 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 beyond 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 wal ended all the world
knew that 1t 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
administration for unexampled success
alike in preparing for the conflict and
fighting 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
td tality, eclipsed all records. This is
the verdict of the civilized world.
While the ~ on the political CAM
paign Jagged, fer 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 u mind while ships were
sinking the enemy's fleets and ar
mics yer moving on the Philippines,
Cuba and Puerto Rico? But now we
hear men whose selfshnes sand greed
TO. Office rises above their love Of fair
play and above their patriotism, vii
ify ing and abusing government officials
on their conduct OF their different de-
during the war, and accus-
ing them of almost all thec rfmes in
the criminal calander, and all this too
in the vain hope Of injurtng the adj
ministration for political purposes. Z
pecting to thus poison the minds Of
the people with thep urpose in view Of
elccting a democratic congress in Nov
next.
OF course there may have been some
mistakes in placing in the field an ar
my Of a quarter Of million men and
ending a war with them in 113 days.
o. course some incompetent men have
secured commands. OF curse there
was sickness and death that might
have been prevented II all the officers
and enlisted men had known months
age as much as they know now. But
when 1t is realized that our 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 I'M
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 amid malaria
and fevers, 1t is very remarkable that
such a small number of lives were lost.
SMALL NUMBER LOST.