The Topeka state journal., 1899-11-04
WELCOMED HOME
Kansas Towns Give Troops Roy
al Receptions.
BanQuets and Balls For Return
ing Companies.
FUNSTONATLAWRENCE
Says His Troops Believe In
What They Fought For
And That the War With the
FilipinOs Is just.
Lieutenant Colonel Little
Speaks at Ottawa.

Lawrence, Nov. 4.-The welcome
home of the Kansas soldiers was the
greatest jollif1cation in the history OF
this city.
Lawrence gave company IL a recep-
tion that was a credit to the city and
an honor to the soldier. The city was
profusely decorated, and everybody
turned out. In the parade were 5000
school children bearing flags, 1000 uni
versity students, 500 Indians from Has
keIl institute. and all the organizations
ana secret societies in the city.
The soldiers were met at the Santa Fe
depot at $50 and escorted up the city
TO the large platform at the head OF
Massachusetts street by the members
of the C. A. R, where addresses of vel
come were made by Mayor Gould, Sen
ator Harris and Congressman Bower
sock. Responses were made by General
Funston, Colonel Metca1f, Captains
Clark and Krause, and from this re-
viewing stand the grand procession was
viewed.
Senator Harris, in wecoming the sol
diers, said in part:
General Funston, General Metcalf,
Officers and Men of Company H: In
response to the request of the citizens
of Lawrence, 1 have the high honor OF
bidding you welcome to your home. |
Go this with heart full OF pride ana
gladness, and with few words
I'VE have watched your course with
profound interest and sympathy Sheer
ed at, maligned subject to 1nVldlous
discrimination, at first, you bore your
selves with soldierly fortitude and pa
tience. At last the dreary period OF
preparation and departure ended, ana
opportunity, Master of human deStIn-
les thundered at your gates. Then
Ieapt from the sea abbard the shining
steel OF your manhood and you swept
exultant into the red arena OF Dattle'
the stars and stripes glittering and gl1s-
tening over you, emblem of a great ma
tion-great and strong; While Fame, en-
amCred, proclaimed with stTident truIn-
pet. to the world your gallant deeds
Sons of a glorious state, verify you
have won the right to wear as your
own her motto, "Ad astra per aspera,
and high among the stars. History will
write YOUR names. while in our hearts
your memory will forever glow, alike
the pride of the present day and the
inspiration of all futurity-"
FUNSTON SPEAKS.
General Funston was the only speak
er to inject politics into their speeches,
and he was very bitter. He said:
Ladies and Gentlemen: did not
come to Lawrence, expecting to make
any talk, but merely to spend an hour
or two in the city on my way to Ottawa
expecting to return this evening, but
[ am going to say few words to the
people of this large crowd who are
within range of my small voice Our
family, you know, is weak on voice.
'.One thing that I want to say to the
neopIe of Lawrence (and 1 have said
it in several other tOWns) is that l want
to impress on you that the members OF
the Twentieth Kansas, 1 think all OF
them, believe that the cause in which
they fought was right. 1t does not make
any difference whether we are Demo-
Gratis, Republicans, Populists, black
men white men, Irishmen or Ameri-
cans. Danes or Germans, it is our coun-
try against foreign nation-no. not
foreign nation. but against rabble of
four or five different nations, and we
are not fighting against a people strug-
Cling for their liberty we are fighting
against a disreputable rabble and lot
of tricky politicians who are their lead
ers.
when the United States conquers
what is left of these islands in rebel
lion and establishes over them gov
ernment a hundred times better than
Spain ever gave them and a thousand
times better than they could ever give
themselves, and treat them with jus
tice and humanity and at the same
time with firmness, I believe that the
descendants of the men who are fight
ing US now will be mighty glad that we
conquered them and may put in some
money and erect monument to the
Twentieth Kansas. The cause in which
Afford and Joe Wahl and Wilcox and
Hook died was as just cause as any
for which men fought in any of the
wars in which the United States has
been engaged. There is no use in go
ing back and saying that we were i'm
posing on a people fighting for their
liberty for thaS is a miserable lie It
is the inherent right, I think. of an
American soldier to resist anyone who
attacks him. and they attacked US
first and if it was right for US to re-
sist them when they attacked us it is
right for US to keep a it until we have
whipped them. 1t does not make any
difference what party we belong to,
what we originally believed about ex-
DanSiOn, there are probably very few
who are out and out expansiOnists who
believe in going all over the earth and
annexing everything we can get hold
of want to see the United States
carry this thing through. and think
it will certainly not be more than six
months or a year until all of this busi-
ness will be over and we will have to
keep but very few people in the Philip
pine islands
I want to close by saying a, few
words to H company. If I were to pick
out any company in the Twentieth Kan
sas to say it was the best company Ct
would be hard to say any company was
the best), certainly company H would
be right near the band wagon In the
first place, it has fine, we'll behaved
brave lot of enlisted men; in the second
place, it had as fine a captain-Captain
CIarke-as ever led any good company
in the Philippine Islands Captain
Krause did his duty we'll and was al
ways on the firing line, and never any,
where else. You all know how good a
man poor Afford was. Afford. YOU
know, was not with company H on
February Z, but he came to me the day
mi