The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-18
President Speaks on Historic
 Plain of Antietam
STURDY VETERANS ATTEND
Under Lowering Skies a Magnificent Monument to Soldiers of New ter sey Who Fell In the Civil
 War Is Dedicated.

sharpsburg Md, September H.-Under lowering skies the magnificent monu- ment erected on the historic battlefield of Antietam by the grateful state of New Jersey to its men who fell in the great engagement was dedicated today. The occasion was rendered particularly nota- ble by the presence at and participation in the ceremonies of the President of the United States and of Governor Murphy, the chief executive of the state which was honoring it's heroes. The special train bearing the President, Governor Murphy and their party arrived here at 910 o'clock. Governor Murphy was ac- companied by Senators Kean and Dryden and by special prominent state officials and by his entire military staff.
 Special Trains Arrive.
 Special trains bearing nearly a thou sand New Jersey survivors of the civil war arrived just after the arrival of the presidential party. The trip of the presi- dent from Jersey City was devoid of spe- cial interest. Many stops were made and secret service officers were on guard throughout the night.
 At 10 o'clock the president and Gov ernor Murphy. accompanied by Senators Kean and Dryden, the entire party, and hundreds of citizens, left Sharpsburg sta- tion for the famous old Dunkard church on the battlefield of Antietam There the brigades of veterans in columns of fours escorted the president Governor 1.A1n 1satf,, ,s.t.z monument.
 The Monument.
 The monument is in the form of an ornate Corinthian column of granite for ty feet high, surmounted by heroic fig- ure in bronze of an officer with upraised sword leading his men in charge. The fig ure is intended as a representation of Captain Irish, of the Thirteenth New Jer- sey volunteers, who was the only New Jersey officer killed at Antietam.
 After the assemblage had been called to order by James o. Smith. of the New Jer- sey monument committee. and an invoca- tion had been pronounced by the Rev. Dr. Frazier of Newark, MT. Smith reported to Governor Murphy the final work of the commission. On behalf of the state of New Jersey, Governor Murphy accepted the monument in an eloquent address.
 President Roosevelt then spoke as fol- lows
 Roosevelt's Address.
 Governor Murphy; and you, veterans of New Jersey; and you, men of the Grand Army, and all others here, I greet you:
 I thank you of New Jersey for the mon- ument to the troops of New Jersey who fought at Antietam, and on behalf of the nation I accept the gift We meet today upon one of the great battlefelds of the civil war No other battle of the civil war lasting but one day shows as great a percentage of loss as that which oc- cured here upon the day on which An tietam was fought. Moreover in its ul- innate effects this battle was of momen- tous and even decisive importance, for when 1t had ended and Lee had retreated south of the Potomac, Lincoln forthwith published that immortal paper, the pre- liminary declaration of emancipation; the paper which decided that the civil war be- sides being a a war for the preservation of the union, should be a war for the emancipation of the slave so that from that time onward the causes of union and of freedom, of national greatness and in- dividual liberty, were one and the same.
 Men of New Jersey, I congratulate your state because she has the right to claim her full share in the honor and glory of lildl udN anu you. Governor Murphy. because on that day you had the high good fortune to serve as a lad with credit and honor in one of the five regiments which your state sent to the battle
 Served Under Slocum.
 Four of those regiments, by the way. served in the division commanded by that gallant soldier, Henry w. Slocum, whom we of New York can claim as our own The other regiment. that in which Gov ernor Murphy served, although practi- cally an entirely new regiment, did work as good as that of any veteran organiza- ton upon the field and suffered propor- tional loss. This regiment was at one time ordered to the support of division commanded by another New York soldier, the gallant General Greene, whose son himself served as majors general in the war with Spain, and who Is now, as police commissioner of New York. rendering as signal service In civil life as he had al- ready rendered in military life.
 If the issue at Antietam had been other than it was, 1t is probable that at least two great European powers would have recognized the independence of the Confederacy; so that you who fought here forty-one years ago have the profound satisfaction of feeling that you played
 
 with the fate of all mankind. You men of the Grand Army by your victory not only rendered all Americans your debtors for evermore. but you rendered all humanity your debtors. If the union had been dis solved if the great edifice built with blood and sweat and tears by mighty Wash ington and his compeers had gone down in wreck and ruin, the result would have been an incalculable calamity, not only for our people-and most of all for those who. in such event would have seemingly triumphed-but for all mankind The great American republic would have be- come a memory of derision; and the fail ure of the experiment of self-government by a great people on great scale would have delighted the heart of every foe of republican institutions. Our country, now so great and wonderful. would have been split into little dangling rival na- tionalities, each with history both bloody and contemptible.
 Fruits of the Victory.
 It was because you, the men who wear the button of the Grand Army, triumphed in those dark years that every American now holds his head high. proud in the knowledge that he belongs to nation whose glorious past and great present will be succeeded by an even mightier future: whereas had you failed we would all of us, north and south. east and west, be now treated by other nations at the best with contemptuous tolerance; at the
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