Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-05-31

| lection was postponed,
Richard Robertson, who acted as
| master OF ceremonies, introduced Coy
ernor Atkinson. referring to him as
the man who is known throughout the
| State as the soldiers best friend. In
| responding the Governor spoke as fol-
| lows, and his remarks were highly
appreciated by the many persons pres
| ent:
Soldiers of the Grand Army of the
| Republic, Ladies and Gentlemen:-I as
sure you 1t is very great pleasure to
me to meet with you to-day, and to
! talk to you for a few minutes here in
| the metropolis of our prosperous
Mountain State" 1t is both proper
and profitable for the Old soldiers in
the war of the rebellions to meet and
| greet one another as they Strew fresh
Mowers on their dead comrades graves.
Such gatherings of comrades as this re-
call the solemn scenes of 1861 to 1865
like dreams of the almost forgotten
past; and yet the experiences of that
| awful conflict can never be entirely for
gotten. The fangs of that contest have
all been drawn, and we are glad Of il, but
the scars are with you yet. The curry
ed splneS, the gray hairs and the empty
sleeves tell solemn story that cannot
be depicted in words, however eloquent
they may be. Many of your comrades
have answered the last roll-call, but
we rejoice to-day that goodly number
OF you are with us yet.
'On an occasion like this, one must
be pardoned for retrospecting, at least
in limited way. | am your friend,
license to talk as feel. Just thirty
one years ago, more than ten thousand
bugle blasts caused half million boys
in blue" to forsake their homes and
loved ones in answer to the Nationals
call to arms. When the brass bands,
flies and drums rolled out their mar
tial strains of music, how the loyal
hearts were thrilled, and the thousands
rallied to the summons. AS another
has said in substance, men kissed
their wives and their daughters, and
their sweethearts, and went forth to do
and die. They affectionately kissed
and parted, many of them forever We
see them part, wife and lover, and fol-
low them to the gates weeping. We
see them disappear down the lanes, be-
meath Haunting flags, and on through
towns and cities to fields of glory to
defend their country and it's institu-
tons. In hospitals and prisons they
suffered. On fields of battle they met
the foe, and beneath Gods sunshine
and stars they bore aloft our Nations
starry ensign" Their sacrifices and
sufferings cannot be written. Lam
guage is totally inadequate to express
even faint description of their sacri-
fees for mankind. A republic versus
monarcy was on trial, and/it was then
in the throes of crucial test for ex-
istence. Their actions and sacrifices
and sufferings settled the test forever
that republic can endure. The risk
they ran for our nation and its flag,
as we consider it more calmly, causes
us to love them more as the years roll
by coverings their graves with May day
flowers every Both of May All the
world says the records these sainted
soldiers made are as eternal as the
stars. All the world crowns them pa
triots, and all Thoughtful men uncover
as the veteran professions pass, with
their muffied drums and their arm
loads OF garlands to scatter above the
ashes of their silent, sleeping comrades.
A Magnificent Record.
There is no better title, my friends,
to enduring fame than the four years
service rendered by the faithful hosts
of the boys in blue" In honors truly
to be envied, there is no roll call,
whether in the American Congress, the
German Reichstag, or the English Par
Lament, comparable with the roll call
of our volunteer soldiers at Missionary
Ridge, Chickamauga, Vicksburg, Bull
Run, Antietam, Gettysburg and Apo
mattoX. | had rather my name was
called as private soldier for my coun-
try in those great engagements than in
any legislative body or ministerial cab
met on Gods green footstool. Thus
do millions to-day look upon the SER
vices rendered by the volunteer army
of the republic. 1t is thirty-fve years
since the great conflict ended, and it is
only as the smoke and fog of battle
pass away that We can clearly see the
magnificent record these citizen SOL
diers made.
I'VE can now see plainly, at this
distance from the war, that these SOL
diers in giving us but one flag, instead
of two, one constitution, and a nation
united, they also gave us peace. They
gave us enduring peace, because they
gave us universal liberty in all the
States. 1t has taken our people full
quarter century to find out the true
value of liberty, free labor and free
thought. We are just beginning to
appreciate in its fullness, the true
grandeur of a republic under whose
flag all classes and races of men can
walk erect in the dignity of unrestrict-
ed freedom. Thank God, in our great
country no man owns another and
better than all, labor is forever free.
At last we have learned the lesson,
though it was written in blood, that
labor is of God, and that nothing is
more sacred and more to be respected
than honest, faithful toll. Labor is
wealth, and man needs no better pass
port to fame than that he earns his
living by the sweat of his face. Our
soldiers of the late civil war, though
fratricidal as it was, should want no
greater title to nobility than that they
gave to the American people universal
liberty, which in turn made labor free,
and made free thought also.
Free labor and free thought, my
friends, have done more than all
things else to elevate mankind. They
have chained the lightning, conquered
steam, bridled machinery, broken
down caste and uplifted man. They
have tried out the brain, whetted the