Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1898-03-16

Inc only reason L can give why an
old soldier was not selected to talk to
old soldiers is that if you needed Gen.
sure he would necessarily have to GEN.
sure himself, and if you needed praise
he would have to praise himself; but an
outsider can apply the lash where it
belongs.
You may think that my sympathy
is with the soldier, and that is true.
Then why was you not soldier?
Well, | was something like the Irish
man who bought ticket to go on a
journey, and while he was bidding
goodby to his friends in the depot the
train went on. He ran down the
track yelling at the top Of his voice,
"hould on there, hould on; you have a
passenger on aboard that is left be-
hind"
A generation ago there was train
pulled out from this northern cline
In the direction which the birds fly in
the fall. That train was one of the
most important that ever rolled on
wheels; it was more honorable to be a
passenger on that train than to hold
any office, either high or low, within
the gift of the American people. 1t
was loaded with patriots bound for the
front. Some of those passengers are
here today and the bones of some are
bleaching under a Southern sun.
There are many cruel things in war
and there are many cruel things after
a war is over, and not the least is the
discrepancy between what is called a
great soldier and common soldier.
The life of common soldier is as dear
to him, his affection for wife and family
as strong, the necessity of his support
and protection as great as that of any
general who ever commanded an army;
and yet the widow of a general has no
trouble to get a pension running up
into the thousands while the widow of
u common soldier sometimes has q
struggle to get eight dollars per month.
But no matter how much poets may
sing, no matter how much history may
be written of the brilliant victories won
by great generals, the fact remains that
this country owes you old soldiers
debt of gratitude so big that it can
never be paid. 1t was you who fought
the battles; it was you who won the
victories; and when there was call for
more you did not take the first light
ming express train for Canada. but re-
sponded in the immortal words, "We
are coming, father Abraham, tnree
hundred thousand more"
Young people sometimes ask what
was the cause of the late war. A suffi-
eient answer would be that the Auieri-
can flag, the grand old stars and stripes
that we all worship was fired upon by
an enemy. But there was more; the
time had come when great principle
had to be settled and nothing but
powder and ball could settle it. D-
vested of all side issues, that principle
was simply this: Shall this great
country, the boasted Gland of the free
and home of the brave" permit the
buying, selling and killing of human
beings who had committed no crime?
You old soldiers answered that ques-
ton i'm tones heard to the uttermost ex-
tremities of the earth, aud that little
conference away down in old Virginia
between General Grant and General
Lee ratified your decision once and
forever.
Some people object to paying the
soldier few paltry dollars as pension
and say they look as well as anybody
apparently the flush of health upon
their cheeks; but who knows the poison
that crept into their systems from the
deadly odors of a southern prison or a
southern swamp? Right here among
us are many, both natiye and foreign
born, whose shattered frames and
broken constitution are an ever present
witness of their devotion to our coun-
try's flag.
Railroad companies are sometimes
called soulless corporations. A few
wears ago down here i'm Iowa there was
a flood and railroad bridge was wash
ed away. A Is years old girl, Kate
Shelly land her name should go down
in history among the heroines of the
world) i'm the darkness of night and in
a binding storm crawled across the
bare beams of that bridge to warn an
approaching train of its danger. She
saved the train; she saved the passen-
gers and received bounteOus reward.
1t was a noble act on the part of the
young lady; it was noble act on the
part of the company. But who can
measure the soul so small that objects
to fair reward to the men who took
their lives in their hands and went
forth to battle to protect the homes and
firesdes of sixty millions of people?
While the boys in blue are entitled
to all the credit they receive, the girls
in blue are entitled to just as much.
Ia all ages Il don't mean ages of wo-
men, for that is something that men
are not supposed to know anything
about, but in all ages of the world and
in all wars woman has performed as
heroic deeds as man. Our own late
war was TO exception.
1t was woman who gave the most
important news to our Union generals
from the enemy.
1t was woman's hand that most
tenderly soothed the throbbing brow of
the dying soldier.
And when their was cloud hung
over this fair land as dark as midnight,
and more defenders We're wanted, il
was the women of the land who said
to husbands, fathers, brothers and sons:
$50, and our prayers will follow you.'
What do you see today-thirty years
after the war is over? An organization
reaching from ocean to ocean for the
sole purpose of doing good to the sol
diers' widows and orphans. May they
keep on with the good work and con-
tinue to make every widow and every