Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1903-07-17
AMERICAN PATRIOTISM.
BY DR.. John Merrite Driver

~ Nfs JoHh TiCfFhC DFWch
Well do I remember the day when
the Sons Of Veterans on parade follow.
ing their fathers were greeted with
jeers and ridicule and hailed as tin
soldiers" But the war with Spain
came on and then the conflict In the
Philippines, and every son Of every
veteran proved himself to be a genuine
chip of the original block; that the
heroes Of Santiago and San Juan hill,
Of Manila Bay and Of old Pekin were
worthy Of the sires who fought at
Vicksburg and Shiloh; at Chickamauga
and Chattanooga; at Gettysburg and
Peach Tree creek; at South Mountain
and Malvern Hill, and that the sons Of
johnny Reb" and "Billy Yank" were
Americans all, true to the old flag,
true to the inseparable and indivisble
government at Washington, equally
true to every high and noble instinct
Of deathless patriotism and humanity.
When Hobson wanted eight men to
join him in sinking the Merrimac, in
very tempest Of Spanish bullets, at the
mouth Of Santiago Bay, and Admiral
Sampson called for volunteers, the
men Of the entire feet stepped to the
fore.
When the legations of the world, our
own included, were beleaguered in
China's capital and "Boxer" fends
were gnashing and tapping for their
blood and re-enforcements were order
ed from Manila the only dread of each
regiment was that some other regiment
might be ordered to the arduous task.
And when the transports sailed away,
bearing the favored troops, those left
behind bewailed their inability to show
the world Of what sort Of stuff they
were made.
Thank God for the brave, worthy,
magnificent youthful yeomanry and
soldierhood Of our blessed republic, but
before another war comes may the
busy decades lengthen into centuries
and the long unfolding centuries ripen
like golden grain, into the glad harvest
time Of universal and eternal peace
when all our swords shall be beaten
into plowshares and all our spears into
pruning hooks.
But let us not forget, my young
friends, that great problems confront
us to-day, problems as great and mo-
mentous as those that confronted our
fathers in the antebellum days.
The negro problem yet vexes us; the
trade unionist giant, refusing to incor'
porate and as corporation become
accessible and amenable to the law
and sometimes carrying on bush
whacking and guerrilla warfare against
the most vital agencies of material ad'
vancement and prosperity, utterly ID.
different to the comfort, well being ana
downright losses sustained by an inno'
cent and generous public; the liquor
demon, as deadly and more defiant
and strongly intrenched behind legal
commercial and political breastworks
than ever; the widespread corruptions
In political life and particularly IL
municipalities and State legislatures
the deadly miasma of official malfea
sance; the invasion of a vast horde
from France, the Philippines and othel
countries, many of whom have beel
expelled for immortality and treason
expelled to prevent them from destroy
ing the government; the continual en-
croachment of the church upon tn'
public school and the withdrawal o.
tens of thousands of our children from
the one universal Americanizing an'
patriotism-begetting institution-thes
are problems that will test our pa
thence, our wisdom and our loftles
statesmanshlp for many years to come