The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-12-03
LESSONS Of MANY WARS
MAI. GERLACEI,S ADDRESS TO CIR
MAN VETERANS ASSO-
CIATLON
THEY MUST BE ALWAYS READY
An Able Address Is AttentiveIy Lis
tened tO-AssOc1atiOn Adopts
Resolutions on Senator
Davis Death.

Inc German American Veterans asso-
cation held it's regular monthly meeting
at the hall, ZIG Wabasha street, yesterday
afternoon. An excellent programme was
presented, and greatly appreciated by the
large audience of g. A. r. men and their
families, The Misses c. J. Sudheimer
presided . m
The principal speech was made by Maj.
William Gerlach, who delivered stir
ring address, entitled, 'In time of
Feace' Prepare for War" Comrades
Patrick Henry and George A. Austin,
also made few remarks.
The following set of memorials were
passed in regard to the death of Senator
Davis:
IN MEMORIAM
1t having pleased Divine Providence to
remove from our midst, our distinguished
comrade, Senator Cushman kellogg
Davis, Therefore, be it resolved by the
German American Veteran association,
assembled; That We hereby extend our
sympathy and sorrow to his bereaved
family, at this time of their aff1iction
and We assure them that his demise is an
1rreparable loss to his country. Resolv-
ed: That these memorials be spread on
the records Of this association, and that
the secretary furnish a copy of the same
to the afflicted family and cause them to
be published in the daily papers.
The following is the address delivered
by Major Gerlach in part:
Reviewing the history of the early wars
and the terrible losses of the Civil war
Maj. Gerlach said:
Was this all the cost? Were our SOL
olerS the only heroes?
SACRIFICES AT HOME.
mo, most emphatioally no! Look into
our American homes! Here you see the
noblest heroes of all; the mothers who
with their blessings, sent their sons to do
their duty; the wives who cared for the
little ones while the father fought to
preserve Tor them the precious gift of
nherty; the sisters of the boys at the
front, they toiled and suffered in silence
WhlIe the men, inspired by their noble
bearing, ola ValOrouS deeds amidst the eX-
element Of battle Our printed histories
say little of these heroes but we should
cherish these memories in our hearts and
see to 1t that they are fostered by our
chlIdren and ch1ldren's children for all
time to come. ~
BE ALWAYS READY.
rs it not a holy duty to raise our
voice and prevent a repetition of the sor-
roWIul scenes presented by our military
history? If there was a shadow of q
III the Span1sh-American war should
quickly dispei it. Better preparation must
be made; the demagogue must not he
permitted to conjure before the nations
eye, for partisan advantage, the
ghost of mtlitarlsm to pervcrt
history by quoting the aphorism that
standing armies are a menace to liberty;
to tell the American WOrkingman that it
threatens his interests, without challenge
by men who witnessed the quiet return
to citizenship in civil life of a million Of
victorious soldiers in 1865 and 1866.
We may be told that history repea is
itself; this is certainly true, but it is
true also that only like conditions pro-
duce like results, and who is ready to say
mn ,f1,vy
today are similar to those in ancient
Rome and the kingdoms Of the old world
Or in the Spanish-America republics on
our continent, where victorious or unprin-
cipled generals have been able to seize
the 1eins of power?
ARGUMENT is. SELF7EvIDENT.
''The neew of ample effective prepara-
ton in time of peace for war in our case
is self-evident. 1t we contemplate super
fcally our past habitual Hnreadiness our
neglect of the simplest rules of precaution
and the teachings of experience, we rlay
ease cur conscience and lay the blame on
our administrations and congress II we
GO deeper We must quickly perceive, and
then honestly admit that in reality the
responsibility rests with the nation itself
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty
and the sovereign citizen cannot relegate
his highest duties to the servants he has
commissioned to conduct the routine of
government. The supreme direction, all
initiative, must come from the peOnIe
has so far enabled us to solve every Sc
rious problem in the path of our national
development must come to the rescue too
Ill military affairs; Democrats and Re
publicanS alike are Americans; the ma
tiOnal honor is in the keeping of all and
we must pull together and secure the
eS Establishment OF as military system ade-
quate for our needs and In accord with
cur institutions First and most neces-
sary in this direction is the creation of a.
regular army, as thoroughly efficient as
Pow 1cin
large enough to serve as a training school
for future commanders or leaders in
war. Only hard, persistent, professional
work can give us those in the present
advanced state of the art of war Genius
might succeed in emergency without .uch
preparation, but in state and human af-
fairs we must reckon with general aver
ages If we would be safe.
PROVIDE FOR SUDDEN WANTS.
''By wise provision for our national
guard we can form a first reserve for our
regular army, and so provide for sudden
wants. In emergency we must ever de-
pend on the volunteer. If we have then a
Ierfect regular army, an efficient national
guard we can organize a voluntea r
army and direct its work and reduce the
measure of sacrifice our citizens must
ever be ready to make for this country
to a minimum. In contemplating a stand
ing army, established with these ends in
view, we may console ourselves with the
assurance that even q hundred thousand
regular soldiers, recruited from the N =
ton, commanded by american officers.
armed with the most approved machines
of destruction, are no match for millions
Of freemen armed with the ballot. A
regular army in the United States, as far
as 1 can see after a lifetime spent Iii It,
can never be aug'ht but the peoples army.
If The nation is PATRIOTIC, devoted to our
institutions, the army will ever echo these
feelings. A military education promotes
the development and worship of the high
est ideals IN human nature, and an ad-
mixture Of these elements, with the de-
cidedly materiaIistic tendencies of our
times, cannot bring about a degenerati0n
of the national character"
No Damage Was Done.