The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-04-27


blunder merely something to be retrieved I
and not a reason for abandoning the long /
determined course Above all, the great [
man OF the people possessed a tough and /
stubborn fibre of character. There was
ample room for criticism and there was /
every reason why mistakes should be
corrected But in the long run our graft {
tude was due primarily not to the critics, /
not to the tault-nnders, but to the men
who actually did the work: not TO the
men OF negative policy. but to those who
struggled toward the given goal Mercf- I
ful oblivion has swallowed up the names
Of those who rallied at the men who were
saving the union while il has given US the
memory Of these same men as a heritage
of honor forever and brightest among
their names flame the names of Lincoln
the enduring, the finally triumphant.
GRANTS SUPREME VIRTUE.
was his 'dtggedness. the quality which
found expression in his famous phrases.
unconditional surrender and lighting it
out on TINS line II 1t takes all summer
He was a master Of strategy and tactics.
but he was also a master OF hard hitting
OF that continuous hammering which
finally broke through even Lees guard.
While an armed foe was in the field it
never occurred TO Grant that anv cues
ton could be so important as his over
throw. He felt nothing but impatient con-
tempt for the weak soul who wished to
was still capable Of resistance.
There is a fine lesson in this TO the peo-
pie who have been asking US to invite the
certain destruction OF our power in the
Philippines. and therefore the certain de-
Islands themselves.
p1ttAnS, any concession on our part ahead
Of the duty of reducing the island to quiet
at all costs and of stamping out the last
efnDefs OF armed resistance At the time.
of the Civil war the only way TO secure
peace was TO fight for it. and it would
have been a crime against humanity TO
have stopped fighting before peace was
conquered. So, in the far less important,
but still very important crisis which
confronts US today, IL would be a crime
against humanity if whether from weak
ness or from mistaken sentiInentaiisrn. we
the aIl-impOrtant duty is to restore order,
because peace and the gradually increas-
islands which will follow peace, will only
come when armed resistance has COM
pletely vanished
Grant was no brawler, no lover of
fighting for nghting's sake He was
plain, quiet man, not seeking for glory;
nut a man VINO, when aroused, was al
ways in deadly earnest and who never
shrank from duty. He was always slow
to strike. but he never struck softly. He
was not in the least of the type which
gets up mass meetings, makes infiamua-
tory speeches or passes infiammatory
bic talk to be followed by over-feeble &C
ton His promise squared with his per-
words. He did not denounce an evil in
strained and hyperbolic language; but
when he did denounce it. he strove to
make his denunctauon effective by his
action, he did not plunge lightly into
war, but once in he saw the war through.
ana when It was over, 1t was over entire
" Jnsparing in battle, he was very mer-
ciful in victory There was no let-up IN
ms grim attack, his grim pursuit until
the last body of armed foes surrendered
But that feat once accomplished. his first
/ thought was for the valiant defeated: to
( let them take back their horses to their
little homes, because they would use them
4 to work on their farms Grant, the
champion whose sword was sharpest in
( the great fight for liberty, was no less
sternly nisistent upon the need of order
+ of anarchy in every form ever lived with
/ IN our borders The man who more than
any save Lincoln had changed Us into a
nat11n whose cillzehs We're al LreenleH
realized entirely that these freeman would
remain free only while they kept mastery
I over thelr own eyll passions he saw tnat
lawl essness in all its forms was the hand
/ maiden OF tyranny No nation ever yet
( retained It's freedom for any length OF
( time after losing its respect for the law,
/ after losing the law-abiding spirit. the
spirit that really makes orderly liberty.
WHAT HE STOOD FOR.
Grant, in short, stood for the great
: elementary virtues, for justice, for free
dom, for order. for unyielding resolution.
Tor manltness in its broadcast and highest
sense His greatness was not so much
greatness Of intellect as greatness Of char
dcter ihciudlng IN the word character all
the strong virile virtues 1t is character
80 80 Se45-ts IN d udtlon as IN q man II
y q sooQ tnlug 20 nave clean, nne IN
teilectual development in a nation to pro-
duce orators artists. successful business
men put II IS an Infinitely greater thing
10 nave those solid qualities which We
group together under the name of char
acter-SObrfety. steadfastness-the sense
OF obligation towards ones neighbOr and
ones God. hard common sense. and COM
blned with it the gift of generous enthusi-
asm towards whatever is right. These are
the qualities which go to make up true
national greatness. and these were the
qualities which Grant possessed to an
eminent degree.
We have come here then to realize
what the mighty dead did for the ma
ton. what the dead man did for US who
are now living Let US in return try TO
shape our deeds so that the America OF
the future shall justify by her career, the
ANes OF the great men of her past Every
man who does his duty as a soldier, as
a statesman or as a private citizen. Is
+ paying to Grants memory the kind OF
homage that is best worth paying We
nave difficulties and dangers enough in
the present. and it is the way we face
them which IS to determine whether or
not we are fit descendants of the men OF
the mighty past We must not finch from
nave even more important duties at home
Ihat these home duties are the most i'm
portant OF all every thinking man viii
f freely acknowledge. We must do ouI
duty to ourselves and our brethren in the
{ complex social life of the time We must
possess the spirit of broad humanity, deeE
charity and loving kindness for our Eel
~ low men. and must remember at the sans
time that this spirit is really the subst1-
tute antithisfs of mere sentimentalism, OF
soup-kltchen, pauperizing philanthropy
and of legislation which Is inspired either
by foolish mock benevolenee. or by class
greed or class hate We need to be pos
sessed of the spirit Of justice and no less
by the spirit which recognizes in WORK
and not ease the proper end Of Efforts.