Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1900-05-30

heroes have been its greatest warriors.
The refining influence of higher eduea-
ton, the softening touch of moral and
religious training, have SO far failed
| to subdue in man the occasional thirst
fer the blood of fellow men.
Passing events make it manifest
that we are vet far from that millenial
period. when brother shall not war
against brother, when the sword shall
be beaten into pruning hooks,
and the lion aud the lamb lie down
together.
Long and rapid as have been our
strides in material progress, in none
more great than in the art of warfare.
The science of destruction has kept
pace with all the rest, even in this
world building age. No longer. as of
old, does the sun stand still to give
more time for fighting. A few hours
of modern Lyddite and dynamite and
Cuttings and Krupps, and Mausers and
Krag -Jorgensens work more havoc
than days and weeks of ancient wSr-
fare Verify, the world does move!
There would be no warrior heroes
without wars. no wars without armies,
no armies without soldiers. and no
soldiers without brave and strong and
self-sacrificing men, and patient,
courageous and patriotic women.
The American soldier is a wonder
of the world. he combines the dash
of the Cossack. the fortitude of the
Spartan, the pride of the Roman. the
honor of IDEAL knighthood, the tender
ness of woman. Called from the vari-
Gus pursuits and avocations of peace.
he brings to the tented field the Drawn
of the farm, the intellect of the Office.
the vigorous manhood of the work
shop, the nerve and daring of the rail-
road. Each exerts a wholesome in
1uence on the rest, and with little drill
and discipline the various elements are
soon moulded into an American army.
irresistible, terrible. without peer or
precedent in human annals. Insen-
sible to fear. obliv;ous to danger, the
American soldier works miracles and
achieves success, where failure and
defeat might not be unexpected nor
dishonorable.
THE versatility and adaptabilitv
of the American character nowhere
better appears than in this. On the
farm he Is q farmer. skillfully turn
ing to his advantage the resources of
nature, making this the greatest ag-
ricultural nation on earth. In the
workshop he is a mechanic. invent
ing. com bining, evolving. contriving
bringing his country to the very
front rank in manufactures. In the
mine he is a miner, digging, delving
and producing more valuable mineral
than any other nation on the globe.
Strives For Best Always.
He does nothing by halves. He
strives not for good nor better, but
always for the best. In the world 8
statistical scale, he sees no rank nor
station but first But whether son
of toll, or psmpered child of fortune.
he is ever ready to answer his coun-
try's call.
Being the best farmer, the best
mechanic, the best workman. the best
miner. the best railroad man. it is
more easily conceivable that he ID the
best soldier on earth. He is first be-
cause his country is first. He is true
because he is an American. Brave,
because he is true.
The brsvest are the tenderest,
The loving are the daring
"Such was the American soldier
who fought at Lexington and Bunker
Hill and Saratoga; who wintered with
Washington at Valley Forge, and
wrested our independence from the
then greatest and proudest of earth's
nations. Such was the soldier of New
Orleans aud of Mexico. Suck was the
soldier of Donelson and of Vicks burg,
of Shiloh and Missionary Ridge, of
Lookout Mountain and Chickamauga.
Such was the soldier of San Juan hill
and Porto Rico; such the soldier
sailor of Manila and Santiago. Such
the soldier, who, even as we are here
assem- bled, is facing the shot and
shell of semi-barbarous horde in the
far distant islands of the sea. Heaven
and an honorable peace, and the safe
return to home and friends of our
brave soldier boys in the Philippines.
Near two score years have passed
since the close of that great chapter in
our national history, which made
freedom a fact. and wiped from Lib
erty's fair face the stain of human
|thralldom. The vast majority of ex-
listing persons have come into being
since the enactment of these events.
Those born within 40 years can have
no personal recollection of them. To
such, all these things are matters of
history and tradition. Sumpter. Get
tysburg. Shiloh. Appomattox, are as
Lexington, Saratoga and Yorktown
not within the range of personal ex-
perience and contemporaneous know
ledge. but gathered only from re-
corded history and the experience of
others.
I'VE of middle age and younger have
recently beheld the spectacle of
great natien reused to the extremity
of war in a cause which it deemed
just. We have seen party lines OBJ
liberated. and congress unanimously
vote to place in the presidents hands
q great war fund. We have seen men