Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1902-06-11
Address Of the President at Arlington
on Memorial Day a Magnificent
Tribute to the Dead.
cRuELTIEs OF PRESENT WAR.
Says the Philippine Soldier Has Dis
played Great Forbearanee in the
Face of Treacherous Foes.

Washington. May 30.-Memorial day |
was observed here perhaps more gen.
orally than ever before. The an
nouncement that President Roosevelt |
would deliver the grafton at Arlington |
on Memorial day, brought to that his |
toric cemetery a vast concourse OF
people, among whom were thousands
of veterans who journeyed to the cem-
etery to honor the memory Of their
comrades who had died in their coun-
try's cause, or who, having survived
the struggle of 1861 and 1898, had
since passed away.
After the invocation and the rendi-
tion of several numbers by the band
and choir, e. B. Hay read Lincoln's
Gettysburg address. President Roose-
welt followed, and as he arose he was
again greeted with cheers and the
plaudits of the immense audience,
which stretched far outside the limits
of the amphitheater. His remarks
were given the closest attention and
he was frequently interrupted by the
bursts of applause. The president
spoke as follows:
A Solemn Holiday.
It is a good custom for our country
to have certain solemn holidays In
commemoration of our greatest men
and of the greatest crises in our
history. There should be but few such
holidays. To increase their number
is to cheaper thew. Washington and
Lincoln-the man who did most to
found the union-and the man who
did most to preserve it-stand head
and shoulders above all our other
public men, and have by common
consent won the right to this pre-
eminence. Among the holidays which
commemorate the turning points In
American history, Thanksgiving has
significance peculiarly its own. On
July 4th we celebrate the birth of
the nation; on this day. the 30th of
May, we call to mind the deaths of
those who died that the nation might
live, who wagered all that life holds
dear for the great prize of death in
battle, who poured out their blood like
water in order that the mighty nation
al structure raised by the far-seeing
patriotism of Washington, Franklin,
Marshall, Hamilton, and the other
great leaders of the revolution, great
trainers of the constitution, should
not crumble into meaningless ruins
You whom l address today and your
comrades who wore the blue beside
you in the perilous years during which
strong, sad, patient Lincoln bore the
crushing load of national leadership,
performed the one feat the failure to
perform which would have meant de-
struction to everything which makes
the name America a symbol of hope
among the nations of mankind. You
did the greatest and most necessary
task which has ever fallen to the lot
of any men on this western hemis-
phere.
"The One Really Vital Task"
During our four generations of ma
tional life we have had to do many
tasks, and some Of them Of far-reach-
ing Importance; but the only really
vital task was the one you did, the
task of saving the union. There were
other crises in which to have gone
wrong would have meant not merely
disaster but humiliation. For failure
at any other point atonement could
have been made; but had you failed
in the iron days the loss would have
been irreparable. the defeat irretriev
able. Upon your success depended all
the future of the people on this cont
nent, and much of the future of man
kind as a whole.
You left us reunited country. You
left us the right OF brotherhood with
the men in gray, who with such cour
age, and such devotion for what they
deemed the right. fought against you
But you left us much more even than
your achievement, for you left us tho
memory of how 1t was achieved. You
who made good by your valor and pa
triotism the craftsmanship Of Lin
coin and the soldiership Of Grant
have set as the standards for our eff
forts in the future both the way yor
did your work In war and the way In
which when the war was over yor
turned again to the work OF peace
In war and in peace alike your ex
ample will stand as the wisest OF les
sons to us and our children and oul
children's children.
"The Younger Comrades"
Just at this moment the army of the
United States, led by men who served