The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1901-09-25

es, our President was the wise, TACT
ful and safe leader and not i he camp
follower. HeWas creator and not
thee creature of the thou ghts and ideals.
which make history for q nation, aye,
for the world.
But because be was tactfuI and wise
and patient he was never popular with
Intemperate reformers And because.
he sometimes felt that it was wiser and
safer TO wait until public opinion would
support reforms in morals, habits and
customs he was savagely assailed and
bitterly denounced by some who AFRO
gated TO themselves all virtue aud
kno Wledge; who claim to be the spec.
ial cilamp ions and advocates for hui
mainly How small, how mean must
have seemed TO many a man and
woman tool their hasty and unjust
criticism Of this clean-souled man.
while watching him enter the dark
shadows during the past few days
with such noble resignat ton, with so
Triumphant a faith.
"a MARTYR S DEATH.
But all the love the nation felt for
him him., his very eminence, his noble
qualities as man and a leader,
marked him as victim to blind, Hn-
righteous hate. As a soldier at his post
heWas murdered in the presence of the
people he loved and served
We have heard so often on our
streets and in our homes during the
sad days past expressions like these,
S How could anyone do it??'' why
should they murder SO good man as
this?,'
Have you traced the parallel in the
murder of three Of our presidents? Each
oIe5a man Of generous heart. of pure
life. of noble character. And each died
a marty fore cause.
Lincoln stood as the champion for
The preservation of the nation and free
dom for a race. Disunion aud slavery
found a willing instrumen in the as
sassin, Booth. Yet the nation was
saved, the slave was freed, but the.
milestone of national progress was
marked in the blood of murdered
President.
Years passed on and the power of
the executive Of this nation, thong b
guaranteed by the constitution was
threatened by a senatorial cabal of
spoilsmen and patronage brokers who
sought to make the executive the mere
Grand boy in the distribution of posi-
tons.
Garfield stood as champion of execu-.
IS We freedom. The hatred of faction,
the greed of the spokesman found an.
exponent in the coWardly Guiteau-
But the nation. aroused, indignant,
compelled the passage of the civil se.-
vice law and another milestone was
passed, stained again with the blood Of
IA President.
Years again rolled on and here and
there IN dark places, in secret dens,
the gospel Of destru elton to all law and
society Of murder and rapine was ar
nounced. The nation had welcomed
to its shores vile Wretches, who plotted
its destruction. The result of our war
left US the legacy of the Philippines,
and the rapine,, murder and laWless-
ness which throye during the brief
hour of Aguinaldo's supremacy APP
pealed to every bloody instinct and
every creed of our own anarchists.
Mckinley stood firmly for the SUI
premacy Of law, for the maintenance
of order nnde the stars and stripes. AT
!once he became the target for the
abuse Of the laWless, the hate of the
criminal. Whether the result Of a
conspiracy or not this nation holds
|eyery one who traduced and viIlifed
him; every one who falsely charged
this liberty loving man with the am
bition for a throne as moral accessory
to the crime for W hich that coWardly,
murderous wretch crouches in the dun
geon at Buffalo.
May that sacred blood not have been
shed in vain! May the nation he cher
ished and served SO wisely and 50 Dwell,
feel and know that license is, not l1ber-
IT,; that respect for the; obediance TO
to law is the highest duty of the citi-
zen; that liberty upheld and safe
guarded by law is the richest and full
est liberty for a nation Of freemen.
And now, oh noblei ;chieftain, fare
we'll. Oh citizen, soldier, sleep on /!
Asthy people listen il vain for words
Of wisdom from eloquent lips, silent
forever; as they neap over that heart,
tender and true, now pulseIessin death,
the garlands of Impoverished loye may
they not hope that fol lowing thee even,