Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1900-05-29

ing age. Yet the day set apart for
o~9hnmemorsaon Of the matohless deeds
Of The participants in that long struggle be-
comes Yrssher and more radiant with each
reeedins year.
youth Immortal. II can grow I'D never. Il
= REMINDER Of principles holy as reverence
for Divinity, for they are lofty smanations
from God Himself. It Is reminder to duty,
than which angels or men can find no grand
er impulse to action. The war was a con.
test for the perpetuation of the union es.
tablishsd by The fathers and confirmed BY
the patriots Of Saratoga and Yorktown.
The day recalls tho promptpess with which
citizens answered the cali to ar1ns, the per.
is through which they passed and the vic.
toyes which they won.
A day this for the living as well % the
dead, Whether the soldiers OF 1915 died
y battle, or In hospital, or in years since
the strife was over, or thsy now 1--we In the
aesh, II u the day Of all who fought, a day
tor all who marched under the flag while
shot Rnd shell few fast about them.
A DAY It il, too, for the living OF the land
childhood, youth and maturity, and for the
Aysps q the asnsrtttQns that may oomss.
| SSkAltIS u bInsolu eV0Eb- duu CURp tQey WHO
offer their lives In her defense shall b held
Of ali the living for emphasizing the lessoh
that love for country r. closely akin 70 love
tor God, and that where ons loves, one must
bs ready to suffer and die, II needs be, for tn.
object Of love.
All who ~ living should learn, too, to
appreciate the matoh1ess greatness Of a
country and the pr1oslessness Of q union, tho
preservation OF which cost a million Of lives
and more than four billions Of treasure. And
they may appreciate. too, the evsrjnoreasing
development and prosperity Of the nation
since the sword was turned Into aplowshare
and the spear into a pruning hook.
Ihs day Is trspsht with qeuntlsss lessons.
sP>otrss from the past t4l Of ths horrors
Of war-the bitterness Of hate, the pain Of
suffering, the anguish Of bereavement, the
qdes 9t the wounded, the groaus Of the dy.
ing, the tears Of orphansge and the aching
heart Of widowhood. Because Of its ter
FOES, the day warns asainss eager desire
for way yst 1t declares thAt, Il ooms Ii
must, the offspse must rest with him
through whom It oometh, The nations war
Is 2 righteous war, and the sons Of the re.
PUBLIC must be ready to do thdr part when
the alarm d sounded.
teV sWeSber comes the note, taken up
md sounded all the land over, that time and
kindlinsss serve to mend hearts that were
broken, to Danish bitterness that was az
gall, and to remove the hate that did eat
a. a cauker. The men who fought amid
flame and s~moke-those divided into two
parties, each feeling itself to be right, and
meeting with saber strokes and bayonet
%thEusts; men who fought to kll and who
called up bitter memories to feed the fires
Of hate; these have learned to change hate
Into love and to gather together under a
common flag, the proud emblem Of q mighty
united nation.
This IS why Decoration day grows brighter
and more radiant with the years. II has
broadeped from a sectional into a national
day. Since its inception, the blue and tho
gray, responsive to a nationb call, have
fought under the same flag for maintenance
Of national honor. The bitter memories have
gone; only those that are glad remain. 1t
La the nations day-day Of all the people,
for its teachings and destined to
become more glorifed with advancing evi-
dence Of the lasting blessings growing out
Of a union, one and inseparable.
RoSSER C0ppn