Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-02-02
PART IN AMERICAS WARS


ciety OF \ermonters; and we are sure that
every son of Vermont will be Interested
in reading it:
Mr.. President, Sons and Daughters of
Vermont:
For what YOU are about to suffer blame
your President and vice-President.
| tried to spare you, but they insisted.
and thinking that, as they would give you
"A surfeit of law, a few facts, even crude
|lY expressed, might be an agreeable
change, | consented, and your trouble
will now begin.
| am glad to join with you in recalling
memories of our native State. These re-
unions stimulate fond roCollections, that
absence only makes the fondcr, and carry
our minds back to the beautiful hills and
valleys of our childhood, and We are
Green Mountain girls and boys again.
Proud as We all are of that great YER
moptcr whose name resornds around the
world. | shall steal no other speakers
thunder by dwelling upon his achieve
ments but I'll quote Il verse apropos to
my subject, to our hero, to our navy, and
to our state:
"The dominant blood that daunts the foe,
That laughs 1T odds, and leaps to the
1t is Dewey's glory to-day, as Aliens
An hundled years ago"
] don't like an unpopular subject, there
fore when your presiden asked me what
kind of IA toast | wanted. / said: Il
should be glad to embrace the ladies', in
my remarks He replied: "ln peace,
soldiers must give place to civilians. and
there are a lot of civilians in Brooklyn,
who are ready when duty calls and adj
ed that while he was ready to call upon
the army in time of hanger. or in a crisis,
be did not think, in this case The crisis
xsraas 90 L.. a,,A IN tl.- go A.VA 40 nf.4t
rs to render 1t advisable to call the rcgu-
lars to arms.
| don't wish any of you to think ! am
playing the rhariscc in claiming to be II
regular. | couldn't help it. In my youth
! was as irregular as any of you, as much
so perhaps as our friend Judge steele, but.
unlike him., | saw the error Of my ways,
reformed, took the West Point cure, and
here | am, a regular Nermonter.
We Americans are a strange people. We
won our Independence by force of arms.
For when the people almost dcspairc1,
our unpaid. half-starved, p~oorly-clad con-
tincntdls marched to victory over roads
marked by their bloody footprints. Our
largest increinents Of territory was the di-
rect result of two glorious campaigns,
with 50 victories and no defeats. We
fought the most gigantic war of this CEN
tury to prove that free States could be
stable as well as free. We have just
emerged from one of the most remark
ably successful wars of history, and still
we pose as apostles of peace.
We have every reason to be proud Of
the achievements of our regulars in peace
and war, from 1791 to 1893. In our early
Indian wars. on the plains of Canada. at
New orleans. in the Everglades of Flori-
da, in Mexico, under the signing pines Of
the Sunny South, in the canon ana on
the prairics Of the great West, in the
lJhOI Strikes and in orr repe,f tronhla
with Spain, they have an unbroken record
of duty nObly done. Their steady tramp,
tramp has ever carried comfort to those
in danger. Their colo:s have waved an
unbroken promise of protection to the
peaceful citizen of every race, sex and
condition. Their bayonets have never
flashed. save in defence of law and order,
and yet. We don't like the army.
But YOU all like Nermonters, and / hope
you'll forgive me for trying to prove that
their influence upon the regular arm y
has been important. And here let me say
that the primal reason for this influence
is in the habit Vermont has gotten into
Of furnishing brains for other States.
She has furnished the men that the moth
ers of our great little State have borne
and taught, and armed and sent forth to
the battle of life.
| never knew and never heard of a great
man who had not a great mother. And
tllS IL where liz lnHlenlf1 oil los Anr-
monters in the regular army came from
They all had great mothers-Vermont
mothers.
have ALWAYS gloriad i'm the fact that 7
was a Vermont volunteer" and I am
equally proud to stand before Won as the
representative of her sons in the regular
army.
! shall not burden Won with many s~totis-
tics. OF the first 30 graduates of the mill
tary academy, II, or more than ono-third.
were Vermonters. Ninety-one Vermonters
have graduated, or nearly one each wear
since the academy was established n
larger number in proportion 10 the nonu-
lation than from any other State in The
Union, and ii larger percentage of those
who entered. graduated. than from any
other state. The 92d. my son. will grad,i-
ate next month.
In the war of 1912. of the 1s States that
then Composed the Union. but four fur
nished as many men for the regular army
as did Vermont. and at Chippewo one Of
these regular regiments comnosed of YER
montors, gave the lie to the British hons
that Americans could not stand cold
steel" for with their b. vonets they drove
back the scalet line and won rho VIC
tory.
Col. Martin Scott. n noble son Of var-
mont. led the forlorn hone that aseaultcd
the ~Molino-deI-Rev. one Of thc most dos-
ncrate enpap,mert. in any u,or a,d Ito
diving ewes last looked unon tba t.minc
folds Of our count,v's dap ns II VS.
planted upon the crest of The wall
This col Scott was one Of tbe cbarac-
ters Of the army He entered ne 81 lion-
tenant in 1872 and served mil ba was
go,