Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1901-09-12


| our highly complex, highly specialized in
dustrial life OF to-day there are many
tendencies for good, and there arc also
many tendencies for evil. Chief among
the latter Is tho way In which. in great
industrial centres, the segregation of in
terests invites segregation of sym
pathies. In our old American life, and in
the country districts where to-day the old
conditions still largely obtain. there was
and Is no such sharp and rigid dcmarka-
ton between different groups Of citizens.
In most country districts Of the prese mt
day not only have the people many feel
ings in common, but, what is quite as i'm
portant, they are perfectly aware that
they have these feelings in common
In the cities the divergence of
real inter sts is nothing like as
great as Is commonly supposed; but 1t
does exist, and, above ALL there is a tend
ency to forget or ignore the community
of interest There is comparatively little
neighborliness, and life is so busy and
the population so crowded that 1t is i'm
possible for the average man to get into
touch with any Of his fellow citizens. save
those in his immediate little group. In
consequence. there tends to grow up a
feeling of arrangement between different
groups, of forgetfuncss of the great pri-
NAL needs and primal passions that arc
common to MS all.
1t Is therefore, of the utmost benefit to
have men thrown together under circum-
stances which force them to realize their
community of interest; especially where
the community of interest arises
fl ON community Of devotion II
a lofty ideal The great Civil
War rendered precisely this service 1t
drew into the field very large proportion
of the adult male population, and 1t lasted
so long that it's lessons were thoroughly
driven home. In our other wars the Same
lessons, or nearly the same lessons, have
been taught, but upon so much smaller a
scale that the effect is in no shape or way
comparable. In the Civil War, merchant.
and clerk. manufacturer and mechanic,
farmer and hired man capitalist, and
wagcworkcr city man and country man,
Fastener and Westerner. went into the
army together, faced toll and risk and
hardship side by side, died with the same
fortitude, and felt the same disinterested
thrill of triumph when the victory came.
In our modern life there are only few
occupations where risk has to be feare d,
and there arc many occupations where no
eXhausting labor has to be faced, and so
there are plenty of us who can be benefit
ed by a little actual experience with the
rough side of things. 1t was good thing
a very good thing. to have great mass of
our people learn what it was to face
death and endure toll together, and all
on an exact level. You, whom ] am now
addressing, remember well, do you not
the weary. foot-sore n,arChes unde' the
burning sun when the blankets seemed
too heavy to carry, and then the snivcr-
inb sleep in the trenches when the mud
fioze after dark and the blankets seemed
altogether too light instead of too heavy?
You remember the sCantY fare. ana you
remember above all how you got to esti-
mate each Of your fellows by what there
was in him and not by anything HdVe nu
tious in his surroundings. 1t was of vital
importance to you that the men on your
left and Your right should do their duty;
that they should come forward when the
order was to advance; that they should
keep the lines with ceascless vigilance and
forttude if on the defensive. You neither
knew nor cared what had been their oc
equations, or whether they were In world
ly ways well off or the reverse. What you
desired to know about them was to he
sure that they would stay put" when the
crisis came. Was not this so? You know
It vas.
Moreover all these qualities OF fine hero
ism and stubborn endurance were display
cd in a spirit OF devotion to a lofty ideal
and not for material gain. The average
man who fought In our armies during the
Civil War could have gained much more
money If he had stayed in civil life. When
the end came his sole reward was to feel
that the Union had been saved and the
flag which had been rent in sundcr was
once more made whole. Nothing was
more noteworthy than the marvellous way
in which. once the war was ended the
great armies which had fought 1t to a tri-
conclusion disbanded and were
instantly lost in tho current of our civil
NE. The soldier turned at once to the
task Of earning his own livelihood. But
he carried within him memories of ines
Unable benefit to himself, and he be-
haI 10 not oft II l,,
pricel ,ss heritage Of his example From
the major general to the private in the
ranks each came back to civil life with the
proud consciousness of duty well done.
and all with a feeling of community Of
interest which they could have gained in
no other way. Each knew what work
was, what danger was. Each came back
rance strengthened, and vet with his SYM
patty for others Quickcncd. From that
day to this the men who fought in the
great war have inevitably had in them n
spirit to which appeal for any lofty cause
could be made with the confident knowl-
edge that there would be immediate and
eager response. In the breasts of the men
who saw AppomattoX there was no room
for the growth of the Jealous greedy
sullcn envy which makes anarchy. which
has bred the rcd commune. They had
gone down to the root of things, and knew
how TO judge and value, each man his
neighbor. whether that neighbor was rich
or poor neither cnvYng him because Of
his wealth nor despising him because of
his poverty.
The lesson taught by the great war
could only he ,mperfoCtly taught by any
lesser war. Nevertheless, not a little good
has been done even by such struggles as
that which ended in in5uring indep, nd
encc to Cuba, and in giving to the Philip
mines a freedom to which they could M Npr