Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1902-06-04

Sucn a man as GeneTal oneriuan anu
less OF such a man as iron master
Schwab; 1t is a day to think more of
Lincoln, Chase and Seward than II is
of J.. Pierpont Morgan, Gates and
Rockefeller. II is a day when we
may well think more upon the lofty
examples Of Grant. Lee, Sherman and
Johnston-to take names from both
sides of our civil war-and to forget
for the time the names of a host OF
men who are famous only because Of
their success in the accumulation Of
money. While we may not deprecate
the honest pursuit OF wealth, and its
honest accumulation, still we must re-
member that no man and no nation
ever did become great and never can
become great solely in the pursuit Of
wealth, or other material things. Man
is a spirit; the bodies which we inhab-
il, and this material panorama around
us are not the United States of Amer.
lea: The republic of America consists
of the minds and the souls of American
citizens, and only as those are culti-
waited, only as those are made great,
can America be or remain great. No
nation can be great with a race OF
pigmies for its citizens; NJ nation
can be strong with a race OF weaklings
inhabiting its borders. II America
would be great and remain so, she
must breed great men and women
great not in a material, physical sense
but great in spirit, lofty in soul, and
only by the imitation of the virtues
of that kind of men who have made
America great can we expect to per.
p~etuate the blessings which have been
bequeathed to us.
my friends. we have done very lit
tie ourselves to achieve the liberty
that we enjoy-very little. Our part
has been almost infinitesimal. Other
men have labored and we have enter.
ed into their labors. God planted the
Anglo Saxon race in this continent.
and the result is enjoyed by us today,
and we ought to strive, above all
things, to make ourselves fit to enjoy
this heritage and to pass it on to our
children. There can be no higher am
bition in the mind of any man or in
the mind of any nation than to pass
this state of liberty on unimpaired,
strengthened and increased. Certain
ly we want those who come after us
enjoy these blessings in eve a great
err degree than we ourselves have en-.
joyed them, and that is the reason
why | am glad 20 see this day cele'
brated: | am glad TO see one day set
aside in the year sacred from the or
binary avocations of life, in which We
shall gather TO celebrate the memor!
of those who have laid down theiI
lives for their country, and to strength
en- in the minds Of the rising genera
ton those sentiments which may lead
|, the boys of the future to do the same
thing when need may exist. And II
will exist. No generation in n great
country ever in the history of tn,
, world has escaped the burden OF war
In this bad world only men and ma
!, tions can preserve their liberties VIII,
!; can fight for them. who can seize then
, with an iron hand and hold them
and this Is why | want to see this
spirit perpetuated. not only in our lit
/, tie, remote, inland town, but all owe,
: the United States of America. Only
by the spread of this spirit. by its TAX
ing a firm hold upon the roots of ma
tional life, will We ever raise Ameri
{ can citizens worthy of the name
race that will solve the problems tina,
lie ahead of them, and will, in theil
, turn, do what they car toward the
uplifting and the upholding of the
American name in the earth. | be
!, lieve In the destiny of this great ma
/ ton. | believe we will solve problems
in the future that mankind has hardly
: yet attempted. I believe that some
time. no one a say when, this coun
try will. in fact as well as In name
and partly in fact as now, be a coun
try of the people, by the people and
for the people. That ideal lies far in
|, the future, but some time 1t will be
realized. II each generation of Ameri
can citizens will but do Its duty.
And so, while this is not a day fol-
sadness-it is not a day for weeping
still. ii is not a day for mirth. II
is a day to think thoughtfully on what
this day means, on what patriotism
means, on what our republic means tC
each one Of us, and it is hoped we
will all carry these thoughts away
and that we will try to reflect upon
them. to make them a part Of our
lives-try to make as much use oil
them as we can for the better dis
charge of our duties as citizens.
And there have been other a in
the history OF our country. but none
so great az the civil war. There never
yet has been so great a war, and II Is