The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1902-06-10
HELD UP TO ScORN.
ARMY SLANDERERS REBUKED

Washington, May 3O.-The chief feat
ure OF the Memorial Day exercises here
was President Roosevelt's address at
Arlington National Cemetery, where
he spoke on the administration policy
in the Philippines and replied to the
charges of cruelty which have been so
freely and recklessly made against the
army. He said:
Mr.. Commander, comrades, and you
men and women of the United States
who owe your being here to what was
done by the men of the great civil war,
greet you and thank you for the honor
done me in asking me to be present this
day.
1t is q good custom for our country to
have certain solemn holidays in COM
memoration 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
them. 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
9 significance peculiarly its own. On
July A 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 national struct-
ure raised by the far-seeing patriotism
of Washington, Franklin, Marshall.
Hamilton, apd the other great leaders
OF the revolution, great trainers Of the
constitution, should not crumble 1nto
meaningless ruins.
Soldiers Saved the Union.
You whom / address today and your
comr ades who wore the blue beside you
in the perilious 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 every thing WHICH makes
the name of America . symbol OF hope
among the nations of mankind. You
did the greatest and most necessary
task WHICH has ever fallen to the lot oi
any men ON this Western Hemisphere.
Nearly three centuries have passed
since the waters OF our coasts were first
furrowed by the keels of the men whose
lchildren's children were to inherit this
fair land. Over q century and hall
of colonial growth followed the settle
ment; and now for over q century and 9
Iquarter we have been Q nation.
During our four generations OF ma
tional lite we have had TO do many
tasks, and some Of them of far reaching
Importance; but the only really vita
task was the one you did, the task O
Saving the Union. There are otheI
|crisss in which to have gone wrong
would have meant disaster; but thiI
was the one great crisis IL which u
have gone wrong would have meant no
merely disaster but annihilation. Fol
failure at any other point atonemen
could have been made; but had 20,
failed in the iron days the loss woult
have been irreparable, the retreat ir
retrievesble. Upon your success de
lpended all the future Of the people OF
this continent, and much of the future
lof mankind as q whole.
You left US q reunited country. Yol
left US the right Of brotherhood will
men In gray, who, with such courage
and such devotion for what they terme,
the right, fought against you. But yol
left as much pore even than you
achievement, for YOU left US the mem
ory Of how 1t was achieved. You VIII
made good by yonr valor and patriO,
ism the statesmsnship Of Lincoln, an
the soldiership OF Grant, have set .
| standards for our efforts in the futur
both the way you did your work In wa
and the way in which when war wa
over you turned again 70 the work {
peace. In war and in peace alike you
example will stand as the wisest lesson
TO US and our children and our chilt
Iren's children.
81 The Army's Present Task.
Just ct this moment the army Of th
United States, led by mes who serve
\ among you In the great war, carryin
to completion Q small but peculairl
trying and difficult war, ip which is IL
,volyed not only the honor Of the ia
Z but the triumph Of civilization ov'
forces which stand for the black cha,
! OF savagery and barbarism. The Ia:
\ has not been as difficult or ss importal
] as yours, but, oh, my comrades, Il
! men In the uniform of the Unit
! States who have for the last thr
I years patiently and uncomplaining
! championed the American cause In Il
I Philippine Islands, are your young
! brothers, your sous. They have shov
y tbamsalvas NOT nm nworthv of vou n,