The National tribune., 1904-08-18


duty called. And on the reports of each
of these comrades l invoke your favorable
action.
THE SONS OF VETERANS
prove that they understand and appreciate
service of their sires. They have founded
and are supporting a Memorial University,
wherein. with the liberal arts and the ex
act sciences, are taught the duties of pa
triOtism and the records of those who
have inculcated them. In all their camps
they tell of the honorable things done long
since. and pledge themselves to keep un-
broken the bonds of Union and to uphold
the rlghtful powers of the Nation. They
now occupy their natural relation to the
Grand Army. and l believe that a major
ity OF them are content Herewith. So they
keep the line of succession unbroken, and
will hand down to others their high and
undimmed trusts. l bespeak for them ev-
cry natural and loving recognition and full
est encOura cement.
oUTrosTs.
The most strenuous efforts have been
made during this year to stay the de-
crease in our membership; but natural
causes render such decrease inevitable (the
report of the Adjutant- General gives the
details). 1t is left for us to cling more
.
Recognizing the inevitable, the Rules
and Regulations (see Chap. 2. Sec. ~
have authorized the division of Post men,
bers into resident and nonresident men,
bers; have given the Departments power
to authorize the Posts to fix territoritl linn
its within which resident members will be
found, and beyond which nonresident
members will be found. The initiation of
this movement is with a Department. and
each Department may act for itself in so
authorizing it's Posts to divide their mem
bers. Outposts may be allowed by a Post
OF such Department, whenever there is a
sufficient number of applicants-two,
three. or dozen-and they can organize
under the third paragraph of section IL.
and in this way can keep in touch with
the Posts and with each other; may live
in full membership with this grand fra
ternlty so long as they are spared, and
when time comes, in the Providence of
God, for passing away, be then, as now,
parts of the Grand Army of the Republic
1 urge upon Departments to take the
necessary steps for the sub-organization
members may come together for fraternal
greetings. and SO preserve their interests
in the Order.
Moreover. such sub-organizations are a
measure of economy, both to the Order
and to the individual. Above all, it keeps
us I'LL tOucn WITH one another.
Where charters, owing to limited num-
bers, have to be surrendered it should be
the aim of every comrade to at once de-
posft his transfer card with the nearest
Post. l urge upon Department Command
ers and Post Commanders and comrades
generally to discuss Sec. II of Chapter 2
OF our Rules and Regula tions, and urge it's
use to the end that many not now aware of
easy conditions of membership may be ad-
ded to the rolls.
MEMORIAL DAY.
Memorial Day was more broadly OBJ
served this year than at any preceding
time. More than ever it is becoming the
Sabbath Of the American people. This
year it was observed all over this country.
and as we'll in many foreign places. In
the great cities and in the quiet villages
and on lonely farms; where the ranked
graves filed the National Cemeteries and
tens of thousands marched in honoring
professions; and where lonely widows and
gray and bending fathers and mothers
knelt and in tears remembered the dear
lives given long ago to the dear land; !;
where the mountains, battle-named, lift
their now silent peaks: where the shelter
ing thicket and the deserted plain recall
the awful struggle: wherever on land "our
boys" fought and fell; wherever they were
laid to rest-there the people have gath
cred to review their work, to honor their
cause and to garland their graves. And
those that died at sea are not forgotten:
while the restless and consuming waves
have scattered their charges long ago on
those wide plains where never human
monument was reared, this has
not prevented honor to our sailors: for
where the waters run to the sea, which our
boys kept open for liberty. and a mirror to
the Flag, and where amidst the thunders
fn 10 or cla
there at the fountains and along the
courses Of the stream the people have laid
the flowers Of love and remembrance thence
to be borne near the shotted shrouds of
the sailor-soldiers Of the Republic, and so
have made the round world majestic
tomb for those who died for man. May
every year bring a greater Memorial Day
than it's predecessor; and as we all must
in turn take our places with the silent
hosts, may we not hope that this Memorial
DAY, growing broader even than our affec-
ton has made it, may come to be regarded
as the Memorial Day for all the dead of
all the land, and that on the Both of May
all who mourn, all who loved and who hon
ored the departed, may come together and
under the myriad flags of the silent tents
in the Great Encampment where dust and
ashes sleep, until the sound of the reyeille,
join with us in rites of affection and re-
membrance? And to this end l suggest
for your consideration that overtures be
made to all the societies of the Republic
and to all the people Of the Republic that
they help make this the grand American
Sabbath of time. l believe that if we
consent to this suggestion and properly
present it, it will meet with wider ac-
ceptance and friendlier response than many
now anticipate. And before l leave this
subject, SO near to our hearts, let me re-
turn my most grateful thanks, and those
of all comrades, to that esteemed and hon
ored woman, the National President of
the Woman's Relief Corps, Sarah D. Wi
mans, for the exquisite terms of her Gen
eral Order No. 8 of the series of 1904
and let me further suggest that copies of
that order be distributed to every Post of
the Grand Army of the Republic in the
United States, that in that Memorial Serv-
ice, there SO beautifully phrased. we and
those that come after US may all bear a
part. Nothing more beautiful in the lit
erature of the Grand Army and it's asso-
ciated societies has been prepared in
memory of our dead or in honor of our
living. l hope that this Memorial Service
to the soldier-sailor dead may be repeat
ed every year. The ceremonial itself was
instituted by one dearest to me, in 1893,
during the splendid emotions of the Span
ish- American struggle, at Peoria, ILL.,, by
the Illinois River, and at Leavenworth
Kans., by the Missouri River, and has
widened to the exquisite production to
which l have herein called your attention.