Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1903-09-26
PRESIDENT SPEAKS
At OLD ANT|ETAM
Delivers Dedicatory Address
for Monument to New
Jersey Troops.
MANY NOTABLEs ATTEND
Governor Murphy, His Staff and State
Officers, With 1000 Surviving
Jersey Veterans, Listened
to Exercises.

ment erected on the historic battleneld
Of Antietam by the grateful state of
New Jersey to Its men who fell in the
great engagement was dedicated to-
day. The occasion was rendered par
| ticularly notable by the presence at
and participation In the ceremonies OF
the president of the United States and
Governor Murphy Of New Jersey. A
special train bearing the president.
Governor Murphy and party arrived
here at 9:10. Governor Murphy was
accompanied by several prominent
state officials and his entire military
staff.
Special trains bearing nearly 1000
New Jersey survivors of the civil war
arrived just after the presidential train.
The trip of the president from Jersey
City was devoid of special incident.
President Roosevelt delivered the
dedicatory address, a tribute to the
soldiers of New Jersey and Of the north
who served in the great battle.
Many stops were made and the Sc
cret service officers were on guard
throughout the night. After daylight
crowds assembled at every station TO
greet the president. He appeared first
on the rear platform of his private car
at Chambersburg. Pa, shortly after 7
and greeted the crowd cordially.
At Hagerstown, Md, where the train
was switched from the Cumberland
Valley railroad to the Norfolk and
Western, the president left the break
fast table and his breakfast guests,
Governor Murphy and Senators Kean
and Dryden of New Jersey, to address
a throng Of several hundred people. He
said:
An Informal Talk.
Il am on my way to accept on behal
of the United States government the
monument erected to New Jersey
troops who fought at Antietam; but in
q larger sense | go to commemorate the
valOr of every man who in those days
that tried mems souls proved their
truth, by their endeavor in the service
of the government. 1t is a peculiar
pleasure, either today or any other day,
to see in an audience men who wear
the button which shows that they
fought with the Grand Army Of the Re-
public. They left to us not only a re-
united country but the memory of the
great deeds by which 1T Is made united.
Times are easy now compared to what
they were in the days from 81 to '65.
What we need now is to display just
exactly the same qualities which made
you win out under the lead Of Abraham
Lincoln.
IL want to say how glad l am to see
the Grand Army of the Republic, and
next to the Grand Army l want to
greet the future; l ant to say how
glad | am to have seen the children.
Just one word In closing. AS l said,
we need to display the same qualities
now that you needed in 1861. A man
must be decent, honest and upright, or
he is a bad citizen; and If has not the
qualities Of honesty and decency in
him, then the ADLER he is the worse he
is. If he is a bride giver and bride
taker; If he is q man who defrauds in
.A,.I $50. .syEnt lHPAs % he las. q 1n1
husband, n bad father or Il a son.,
then he is pOor stuff out Of which to
make a citizen"
A Large Attendance.
At 10 o'clock the president and ov-
ernor Murphy, accompanied by SEN
ators Kean and Dryden n hundreds
of citizens, left Sharpsburg station for
the famous old Dunkard church on the
battlefield of Antietam. There the
brigades of veterans formed in columns
of four and escorted the president and
distinguished guests to the monument.
on behalf Of the state of New Jer-
sey, Governor Murphy accepted the
monument in q short address. Mr..
Roosevelt, as he arose to accept the
monument on behalf of the federal gov
eminent, was accorded an ovation.
The president said:
| 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 | accept the gift. We meet upon
one Of the great battletields of the civil
war. Nc other battle lasting but one day
shows as great a percentage OF loss. This
battle was of momentous Importance, for
when Lee had retreated south of the
Potomac, Lincoln published the prelimi-
nary declaration of emancipation which
decided that the civil war, besides being
for the union, should be for emancipation
of the slave.
l congratulate your state because she
has the right TO claim her full share IN
the honor and glory of that memorable
day; and j congratulate YOU, Governor
Murphy, because on that day you had the
high good fortune to serve as a lad in one
of the five regiments your state sent.
Four of those regiments served In the d.
vision commanded by Henry w. Slocum,
whom we of New York claim. The other,
although practically new, did work as
rood as that of veterans.
Significance of Antietam.
If the issue of Antietam had been other
than it was, it is probable that at least
two great European powers would have
recognized the confederacy. You men Of
the Grand Army rendered humanity your
debtors. If the union had been dissolved
the result would have been an incalculable
calamity, not only for our people but for
all mankind. The American republic
would have become a memory of derislon:
and the failure of self-government on a
great scale would have delighted every
foe of republican institutions. Our coun-
try would have been split into little rival
nationalities, each with a history both
bloody and contemplate.
Moreover, every friend of liberty, every
believer in self-government, knew the sue
cess Of all in which he believed was bound
up with the success of the union armies.
| confidently predict that when the iudg-
ment of history is recorded It will be that
In no other war was 1t more vitality essen
tial h victory should rest where II
finally rested. There has never been an
other war In which the issues were so
large. We take just pride in the great
deeds of the men of 1776, but the reyolu-
ton would have been shorn of results had
union and liberty been defeated in the
civil war.
1t now rests with us in civil life TO
make good by our deeds the deeds which
you who wore the blue did from '6l to IS.
The patriotism, the courage, the resolu-
ton and endurance of the soldiers must
be supplemented by civic courage, hon
esty, sanity and adherence to righteous
ness. You left us a united country, the
right OF brotherhood with your gallant
foes who wore the gray; the right to feel
pride in their courage and their high feal-
ty TO an ideal, even though they warred
against the stars in their courses. You
showed that the only safety In our Amer
lean life lies In spurning the accidental
distinctions which sunder one man from
another, and In paying homage to each
man only because Of what he essential
ly Ia.
There was no patent device for eecur-
ing victory by force OF arms forty years
ago; and there Is no patent device for Sc
CURING yyiotOry far tho fOrOaC Of riUhtaOnS-