Evening star., 1902-02-20


to the final fording place, his chief decora
tfons the scars he received In battle, elo-
Quent or his valor and our own, and
piedge that he and his children, to the re-
motest generations, will, with ours, honor
and defend the flag on land and sea. Glo-
rious consummation! Ample compensation
LOT al the cost and suffering OF those
dreadful years Of civil strife! Liberty, my
comrades. never scowls, but laughs with
deilght and carries In extended hand the
olive branch Of peace. Let us rejoice that
great as were the victories OF war, still
greater are the victories Of peace, and that
the victories OF both are the common heri-
tage of united people,
The President introduced.
Gen. Torrance was frequently interrupted
by applause during his speech, and at the
conclusion he was loudly cheered, the Pres
ident joining heartily. Mr.. Hopkins then
rose and said:
The mystic ties that bind our comrades
are stronger than all others. except those
OF family. They were born on the battle
held when men were side by side in the
face of death. We have stood more and
more frequently in later years by the side
of the open grave" he added. with a touch
or tenderness, as he looked upon the at
tent1ve veterans, every head gray with ad
Fancing years, "and the ties have grown
stronger. You appreciate more and more
the meaning Of that word 'comrade.' I can
pay no greater compliment to our dfstin-
guished guest than to present him to you
as our friend and comrade-the President"
When the President rose to respond the
enthusiasm exceeded that manifested when
he arrived. All the veterans and guests
ieaped to their feet, cheered and waved
their napkins, the demonstration lasting
several minutes. This manifestation of
their regard for the President found ex-
preston in the frequent applause which
punctuated his address. The President
began:
The Presidents Address.
Mr. Chairman, commander-in-chief and
you, my comrades, more applause and
waving Of napkins
l can say that there is nothing else of
which l am quite SO proud as Of having
won, in sense, the right to claim comrade-
Ship the President continued and then
the veterans once more broke in upon him
with cheers.
"Gentlemen," he resumed. as soon as
the cheering, which he seemed to appre-
clate, had ceased, Il recollect speaking to
a friend at the time Of the Spanish war
over question as to why we went to the
front We agreed it was because we
couldn't stay away. We had to take to
ourselves the thought Of the great object
lesson that you gave.
am very glad to have the chance of
seeing you this evening and Of being with
you l would be but poor American if 1
dld not appreciate to the full the debt un-
oer which our country rests to you, not
alone for the lesson in war that YOU have
given. but for what that lesson teaches as
to peace.
Il meet You here and I see that generals
ana the men from the ranks call one an
Other by the highest title either knows that
OF comrade. l see you applying the great
lesson Of brotherhood-the lesson that has
got to be applied in civil life no less than
IN mliltary life II we are to work out the
destln1es that Providence has assigned us.
Now the war in which I was engaged
was a mighty small war, but at any rate
II gave us an understanding Of what you
had done and been through. I know pretty
well what kind Of memories you have.
know something of what you sacrificed
ana what 1t meant to you and in what
spirit you did it.
Lessons Which Were Taught.
There are two or three lessons Won
taught, that hope this country will never
forget and never cease to apply. In the
first place there is the motive that spurred
you on-the love of liberty, Of union, of
stable and ordered freedom for a great peo-
pie.
You went into the war without having
any thought Of your wage. 1t was 13 to l
or Is to II"
mol no." came the shouts from all parts
Of the hall. IL to II
We'll. take the largest limit and YOU
went not into the war for an easy time
You recollect the day when at 10 o. clock
In the morning, If you were raw and bur
dened with your blanket, you left it behind
you and that same night you wished Won
had two blankets. You remember the nights
in the freezing mud of winter and YOU re-
member the march under the scorchinp
midsummer sun, the fever, the wounds the
insuffciency of food, the physical exhaus-
ton. You remember all that and YOU did it
without any thought of the trivial none
tary reward. You did it because your soul
spurred you to action. And to this day
when any man speaks to a body Of vet
Grams. he speaks to body Of men who re-
spond instantly to any appeal of lofty pat
riotism. In other words, you practiced and
by practice preached in the strongest man.
ner the ideal of doing your duty and of do
ing duty when duty calls without thought
of what the reward might be-
The mighty Lincoln stood in the White
House and poured out the blood of the
pravest and the best because only thus
could the flag that had been rent asunder
be once again made without a stain.
The Meaning Of Duty.
you taught the world the meaning of
duty. Glory is good word, but duty is a
better one. When you stood in the ranks
you cared little what the man next to YOU
was as to wealth, trade or education if he
was a man. You were not concerned wheth-
er he were lawyer, or banker, or brick
layer. What you wanted to know was
whether he would stay put.
You wanted to be dead sure that your
men would not fail to exercise Just the
type OF judgment the emergency demanded.
Short would have been our shrift If we had
failed to do just what was required Of us
then.
IF we are to go on as we shall and must
go on in our national career, we have got
to apply in our life the same high sense Of
duty and the same sentiments Of patriot