Evening star., 1898-05-30

Hiake them. And yet on this day, when
each hero should have his just need of
praise for the deeds he has done, 1t ii only
1afr to say that while history has done no
more than justice to the soldiers, it has
not yet done full justice to the sailors of
| the Union. The nifty achieved results that
were out or all pGdportion to the numbers
that were eHlfste3 In the army and navy,
aye, even out OF ~ proportion to the cest
OF the operationsS& the two branches of
the service. But III was the returning SOL
oier who gave thu Recount of the war that
has CHIEFLY attrad&6 attention, IT was the
soldier who told lie exploits of his COM
panfons aroupd ft@eides where there were
none to tell Of the leeds of the sailors, and
II was the soldieff Ind the soldiers friends
that wrote and Might and read the his
tories OF the waf1 The historian of the
future summing Ap results, after writing
in imperishable w61t1s the illustrious deeds
OF the Union soldier will record in words
that will never fade. that it was the sailor
that blockaded aonger line Of seacoast
than had ever been successfully blockaded
before; that 1t was the sailor that shut in
King Cotton. who the newly erected con-
1ederate government had believed would
open to 1t the ports Of the world and bring
IN the s1news of war; that 1t was the sail
or that shut out from the confederacy re-
crults and the sorely needed munitions of
war 1t was Union gunboats that turned
the tide at Fort Donelson in the very out
set OF an important campaign. 1t was gun
boats that made easy and practicable cam
river. 1t was Farragut and his fleet that
captured early in the war New Orleans.
the great city that was central and almost
indispensable to the confederacy. 1t was
Porter and his gunboats that made pracu-
cable Grants campaign against Vicksburg.
1t was the fleets of the Union that cut the
ccnfederacy In two along the line Of the
Mississippi river, that penetrated the Red.
the White and the Arkansas rivers yellow
river and the Yazoo, that interrupted con-
federatc communications separated con-
federate armies and destroyed depots OF
supplies all through the southwest. 1t was
the navy that captured the bay and the
city of Mobile, that established itself at
Port Royal and aided in the capture OF
Fort Fisher. When Mcclellan had been
defeated in the battles around Richmond
and finally made the mastery maneuVer OF
massing his troops on Malvern Hin. 1t was
the gunboats on the James river that aided
in saving his army. When Meade sought
to take Richmond by way of Fredericks-
burg he failed; when Hooker sought to
take it by the same line he failed. When
Grant finally took it the navy was aiding
him to keep open his line of operations by
the James river.
1T is hardly too much to say that without
the active, aggressive work done both by
the army and the navy of the United states
during the civil war we should nave had
two governments where we now nave one
and Wheeler and Fitzhugh Lee would be
today commanding army corps on the south
side of line of forts and custom houses
running across this continent from east TO
west, while Brooke and Shafter would De
in command of corps on the northern SIDE
of that line. AS 1t Is, Wheeler and Lee ana
Brooke and Shafter and the troops they
command are under one flag and enlisted
in a common cause, and when Dewey woa
in the harbor of Manila that victory which
will perhaps always remain unique in the
annals of war the hearts of seventy mil
lions of united people were filled with emo
tions of pride in the achievements Of this
mil pf T. md ha
of his fleet.
Here. in the presence of the immortal
dead. let US ex-confederate and ex-Union
soldiers and sailors exclaim, All hail to our
living heroesv
There are many causes which. since the
close of our civil war, have contributed to
bring about that.more perfect union which
our ancestors sought to attain in the Con-
when the smoke or battle cleared away
it was seem that this great country, over
which armies had moved and through
which navies had ,fioa ted, was geographical
ly one; that there was no longer any great
question to divide us: that the confederates
had set up over r3thenlseves and had been
fighting for the Constitution of the fathers
as they understood 1T: that the Union sol
diers had been fighting for the Constitution
of the fathers as they understood it; that
the heroes of tho soVth and the heroes of
the north wereA Americans all; that the
world had lookedSon with admiration at the
lean enterprise Ind senergy united would
soon place our county where she is today,
tn the vanguard of Nations
1T is a naarYeastG the thought how
we should have united s-6ne people after
so much of bitterness and so much of
bloodshed; but to the student of human ma
ture it is not strange that brave and broad
minded men. when their quarrel is fought
out, should tread together the paht pointed
out alike by the traditions of the past and
the hopes of the future. We bury forever in
the presence of the remains of our dead
heroes the angry passions of the past and
now turn our faces resolutely forward, re-
membering that the dead of the Union and
of the confederacy would ask that nothing
he said of their motives and their deeds
but the truth. The truth is enough for
their fame. Congress has set us the ex-
ample. 1t has ordered that federal and con-
federata records of the civil war shall be
published side by side The army is pub
fishing the records of the soldier and it is
editing them fairly. The navy is publishing
the record Of the sailor and it is edit
ing them fairly. The record Of Ameri-
can ValOr as thus made up, when the pen
of impartial history shall set it forth and
couple 1t with the complete reconciliation
of the survivors and the children of the
dead, will constitute the most glorious
pages in the annals of man.
Mr.. Herbert was followed by Judge F.
w. Collins Of the Department of Justice.
Mr. Collins said