The National tribune., 1904-07-14
MICHIGAN At ANDERSONvlLLH.
Eloqcers Address Of Gov. Bliss st the Unvail.
ing Of the Monument,

EioqceEs AooIeSs 01 tov. Bl1oS q the Unveu.
ing OF the 1onumeAt.
Mr. Chairman. Members Of the Anderson
vile Prison Monument Commission,
Ladies and Gentlemen:
This is sacred ground, consecrated by
the suffering Of men who here gave ''the
last full measure Of devotion"
Theirs was not the glory Of death on
the hring-ines; the reaper touched them
not amid the roar and the shock of battle.
Penned in by the dead-line. wasted by dis
ease. far from home and loved ones. they
were mercifully mustered out, leaving as
a heritage to the Nation the memory of a
devotion as limitless as eternity itself.
kneeiing beside these silent mounds we
may learn anew a lesson of patriotism
and take fresh heart for the duties and the
responsibilities that confront us. Brave
men were these prisoners of war, and pa
tri0ts to the hast drop Of blood throbbing in
their hearts 1t was good blood, too, the
blood OF race true to its ideals, and these
men whom fate had destined to an awe
some death met their end so devotedIy that
the grimness of II, the terror of ii, had
power only to place their mortal bodies in
mother earth. Their souls 60 marching
on.
Nearly 700 men from the PENINSULA
State are entombed within the precincts
of the wartime prison, and we Of Mich
igan are here, this Memorial Day, to dedi-
cate TO their memory granite monument,
testfying for all time that a great people
do not forget their heroes, and to proclaim
the pride We take in the faithfulness of
those dead sons of our Commonwealth.
Nearly 40 years have passed since the
passion of civil war ran hot in the veins
Of the North and the South. Out of the
ashes of that gigantic strife has arisen a
recreated Nation whose foundations have
been cemented in the blood Of a new gen.
GRAFTON shed on the battlefelds Of Cuba
The mutual sacrifices of q reunited people
have added another and greater glory
to the stars of a common Flag. Gray.
headed men once foes have mingled in
bonds Of fraternity again and again, and
the years have made it possible for the
representatives of our far Northern
State to come here in the hospitality OF
this far Southern State, and dedicate a
memorial TO patriotic devotion that nei-
ther may forget.
The war and its suffering, the anguish
Of crucifed hearts. and the burdens OF
those days belong to the dead past, but the
lessons, the memories and the patriotism
are a living part of the National life. A
monument to the soldier of either army is
n monument to the American soldier, and
true men and women everywhere proudly
acclaim it i'm that wider, larger charity
that far-reaching, love of country
that this monument in its greater signifi
canoe will to the end of time teach the
Nation. our Nation, that we are one peo
pie and that the sacrifices of those Michi
gan soldiers are for the common glory q.
they were for the common welfare.
1t seems as but yesterday that the stock
ade reared it's head about these grounds
| and the dead-line warned thus far and nt
farther" / can see the dense masses OF
prisoners, and, entering into their daily
life, know, as only experience can know
the life of a prisoner of war. 1t is on,
thing to serve as a soldier in the field, Il
endure the privations of camp and march
to face the madness Of battle. and endure
its carnage: it is another thing to bt
herded behind walls whose never-sleepins
eyes are loaded muskets. to exist beneath
skies that are pitiless, dropping alternately
| scorching heat and the chill of rain, and to
suffer day by day, to see death strike
right and left, and to realize that one is
helpless to do aught but endure it all as
best one can, while outside the walls
marches are made, battles are fought and
deeds are done for home and flag. The
wonder is that men can withstand so much
and live. And yet God watched over An
dersonville. for if he had not, in the full
ness of time, the miraculous spring would
not have given of its waters.
In behalf of the two and a half millions
Of people who are the State of Michigan
| accept this monument, and most solemn.
ly declare it dedicated to the memory OF
the dauntless sons of the Commonwealth
whose dust forever hallows this ground.
With Lincoln, I say, 'The brave men,
living and dead, who struggled here, have
consecrated it far above our poor power to
add or detract. The world will little note
nor long remember, what we say here, but
| it can never forget what they did here"