Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-06-09

4 republic cemented by their deeds and
their blood, Este Perpetual
The Saviors of Liberty
''And now what shall say of the
| brave men who survived the dreadful
shock of battle? Beloved veterans
| here present what shall | say to you
and the living members OF the G. A
| r.? With reverence I salute you
Brave men, defenders of the Union
saviors of liberty, your names shall be
high up on the scroll of fame. Your
children shall rise up and call you
blessed. Future generations shall
praise you. But, alas! your bodies are
bent under the weight of years and In
firmities. Your steps are slow and I'M
certain. Your old comrades silently
drop away in the night of death. Your
ranks are thinning fast. Soon, all toe
soon, all of you shall be mustered on
Gods eternal camping ground and we
shall see Grand Army man no more
| forever on this earth. How touching
and how thrilling it will De, few
years hence, when the last living vet.
eran shall participate in memorial day
services! oh, what affection and love
and reverence shall be lavished on the
| last living old soldier! Let us think
of this. Let our people, and our coun.
| try, do now for each survivor what
| they would do for the last one left us.
Let all be liberal and kind to our
remaining veterans. Let comfort and
plenty cheer their closing days on
| earth. Let not an old soldier be seen
anywhere with shovel or woodsaw or
other instrument of toll struggling in
| the sweat of his face to exc out a
miserable existence whilst fighting his
| dying battle against poverty and want.
Save our country from such scandal
and disgrace.
To the Soldiers Wives.
Ladies of the relief corps, the whole
world admired your devotion during
the dark and bloody days of the re-
bellion These were sad days for the
mothers in Israel Ladies, your resig-
nation, tears and ceaseless prayers
touched the heart Of God and brought
to us peace and victory. Noble women
you offered your husband, brother or
son to your country, and then you Of
fered the prayer of faith to the God
of liberty, home and native land. Your
dropping figures and furrowed faces
| tell of your sufferings and losses. May
God bring you home to heaven at last
there to be united with your loved
ones, and there forever, to share with
them the Joy of the Lord.
The Great American Republic.
young soldiers and sons and daugh-
tiers of veterans, there is high mark
l,of patriotism set before you by your
fathers and your mothers. Love, serve
and pray for your country, as they
have not failed to do. Help to diffuse,
correct concepts of duty. Proclaim
aloud and insist, in season and out of
season, that the country owes no one
a living, but that on the contrary. that
all owe the country living, even to
the cost of blood and of life. Inculcate
love of country as duty of prime i'm
portance. And O, what country to
love is ours. Now it is reunited and
powerful. By land and by sea, in the
old as well as the new world the deeds
of our army and navy are the wonder
of all men. Kings and emperors and
all other titled usurpers of the rights
OF the people, now fear, as we'll as hate
the great American republic, and with
bated breath declare the Yankee flag
of low blood democracy is about to Cir
die the world.
I'm horror they cry that all royal
thrones will soon crumble before GOV
ernments of the people and by the
people. In agony they are counting
now the new states soon to be taken
INTO the American union. They say
weeping-there is Hawaii and Cuba
and Porto Rico and the whole, Philip
pine group OF islands. And the peo-
pie of the Irish race, with laughter
and cheers cry out to these royal
weepers: DO not forget to count In
old Ireland Yes, Ireland should be
state of the union for there are Ave
times as many of the Irish here as
there are in Ireland today.
And now word to you my fellow
citizens. Let us set a true value on
the heritage left us by the G. A. R.
America came through the civil war,
not to the grave of freedom but to
the ThaboP of national life renewed.
In that glorious TRANSPORTATION the
humiliation of human slavery was put
off and the majesty and beauty of the
new union streamed forth from fair
Columbia, our mother land, to be for
ever, the honor of our own people and
the terror of foreign tyrants. Well
may we cry out %, Lord it is good for
US to be here. Let us make here three
tabernacles-one for thee our
churches, one for enlightenment our
schools and one for freedom-our
halls of legislation Dear friends
let us cherish these treasures and
give them stability. We need none
other. Above all we need no state re-
ligion and no classes. AS Sir Boyle
Roache would say; Let every man
be his own grandfather, and let him
be weighed and measured solely by
his own worth
Let us have no king, but law and
let equality under the law be the pole
star of our policy. ST. Paul in Romans
13: II told the, Christians of Rome to
accept, respect and in conscience obey,
the laws of that Pagan empire, which
were prosecuting and killing
them. This St. Paul CON-
manded because God is the source
of law, and because law is necessary
for the existence of civil governm ent,
no matter what be its form Thus we