Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-30


ed home flushed with final victory.
1t would be interesting and inspiring to
recall that time and review in detail those
days of sacrifice, of hardship, of battle, of
death, of heroism, of patriotic devotion, of
thrilling triumph; and here in this presence
there comes almost irresistible impulse
to do so. But all that would be only re-
peating familiar history.
/ shall. therefore say but little In an alb
stract way of our heroes and their deeds of
daring, that l may speak more fully OF
their great work.
AS behold the people of this land today
all at peace. all prosperous all happy, all
imbued with love for our flag and our gov
eminent, 1t seems almost incredible that so
recently we should or could have been dis
tracted and brought to the very brink of
destruction by one of the most ruthless
wars of modern times.
Cause of Civil War.
1t seems strange and unnatural that we
instinctively inquire. what was 1t all about?
And what has happened that those who
were at fatal war with each other should so
soon become friends and be bound together
in common interest and common aspira-
tons
1t is suffiient to recall the fact that
plainly stated, we had two questions about
which we differed. One a moral question
and the other legal question:; one slavery
and the other secession; one appealing to
tuition.
Both demanded settlement but we strove
to conffne the war to the settlement of only
one. Even Abraham Lincoln said he would
save the Union with slavery if he could;
without slavery If he must.
But on that basis we did not make much
progress.
Finally Lincoln saw, as in due time most
men saw. that If the Union armies were to
be successful the Union cause must be
based on something broader and more i'm
portant than cold legal proposition, i'm
pOrtant as that might be and was
Not until Antietam did the nation see, APP
preciate and rise to its opportunit Then it
was the war for the preservation of the
Union was placed on a basis that appealed
to the moral sentiment of the people by tie
declaration that the bond should go free.
thus striking at the root of all our differ
ences and making it possible to conquer Il
lasting peace and establish a durable Union.
II was long. hard struggle. 1t cost hum
drcdS of thousands of lives and hundreds
of millions of treasure. 1t filed the land
with mourning and piled up colossal bur
dcns of debt. not only to creditors who
took our securities, but to the pensioners
who constitute the nations roll of honor.
1t was Il tremendous price to pay, greater
than any language can adequately portray;
but so. too, was the reward that followed.
The Results of the War.
When the smoke of battle cleared away
1t could be seen that not only was slavery
gone forever, but that some things had
been settled that it was of transcendant
Importance to have settled In the first
place, it was made plain that there a
right and wrong side to the great Contro-
Versy that had been so long in progress
and that the right side had triumphed and
been indicated. And that is as true today
and Will be forever as it was then. The
fact that those who fought against the
government fought bravey and calamity,
and believed that they were right, does not
change the fact that they were nevertheless
in the wrong, and that their defeat was a
blessing for them as well as for US and all
concerned.
1t was also settled that American heroism
and valor were the same no matter under
which flag displayed. for neither side could
justly charge the other with any lack ofthese
high qualities of vigorous manhood; and IN
time, was another blessing; for since then
there has been profound mutual respect,
where before there was so much lack of it
as to make Impossible any true feeling of
real homOgeneity.
1t Furthermore settled for all time to
come that this is a nation, not only in the
sense that the Constitution is our supreme
law, binding the states together in per
petual union, but also in the sense that our
government is invested with all the powers
that properly belong to sovereignty.
But it accomplished more still, as already
indicated The brave men whom we are
here to honor not only prevented all the
disasters suggested, and achieved for us
the blessings Of an indlssoluble Union and
universal freedom. but they freed us from
the paralysis of the doctrines of state
rights and strict construction, by which
the power of the federal government was
minimized to the point of helplessness 10
even save our national life, and gave it in
turn that vitality, VigOr and scope which
belongs TO full national sovereignty.
Thus it was that We were able to inter
vene in Cuba and take there all the steps
necessary to establish an Independent gov
eminent for another people; and by the
same token we had the power, when neces-
sity seemed to call for it's exercise, TO aC-
qulre our insular possessions, and, without
Incorporating them Into the Union, hold
them as dependencies to be governed by
forms and laws and Institutions suited to
their conditions and requirements. The
time was when the power TO build the ma
challenged but today no one doubts our
power to construct a great international
highway uniting the oceans and accommo
dating the commerce of the world.
The Return of the Flags.
A striking evidence of this era of peace
and good Will was furnished when at the last
session of the Fifth-eighth Congress a joint
resolution, authorizing the return to their
respective states of the confederate battle
flags was passed by both houses without
debate and without a dissenting vote. The
significance of this action was emphasized
by the fact that there was large repub-
lican majority in each house. nearly all of
whom were from the northern and Union
states, and among them many who had
served In the Union army, While the au-
thor of the resolution was a democrat and
an ex-confederate soldier from Virginia. 1t
was further emphasized by the fact that
when eighteen years ago an executive order
was issued, directing similar action. there
was a protest against 1t SO strong and de-
ermined In character that the order was re-
considered and revoked. 1t Is only fair to
say however. that that opposition was due
largely to the fact that there was then
no law to authorize such an order and no
circumstances to justify 1t as an executive
act and because the President who made
the order had not sustained such rela-
ton to the army that captured the flags
as justified him in taking any unauthorized
liberties with them.
There never was In the hearts OF the
Union soldiers any hatred or Ill will to-
ward the men against whom they fought
They did not fight the men Of the south
because they hated or despised them. or
because they wanted to destroy them or
their country because they wanted to
subjugate or even humiliate them, but rath-
er only because they loved them too much
TO allow them to separate from us and be-
come a hostile people. They wanted them
to remain In the Union where they belonged
because of what they could do for us and