Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1905-10-18
THE PRESIDENT IN RICHMOND.

ANoiNSht AsOOoCfCiN
hearty reception upon his arrival in
Richmond about noon today. The pro-
gramme which had been prepared was
carried out in most of its details. The
President later delivered an address.
Among other things he said ;
al trust l need hardly say how great
is my pleasure at speaking in this his
toric capital of your historic State; the
State than which no other has contrlbut-
ed larger portion to the leadership OF
the nation; for on the honor roll OF those
American worthless whose greatness is
not only for the age but for all time,
not only for one nation but tor all the
world, on this honor roll Virginia
name stands above all Others. And in
greeting all of you, | know that no one
will grudge my saying special word OF
acknowledgment to the veterans OF the
civil war. A man would indeed be but
poor American who could without a
thrill witness the way in which, in city
after city in the North as in the South,
on every public occasion, the men who
wore the blue and the men who wore
the gray now march and stand shoulder
to shoulder, giving tangible proof that
we are all now in fact as well as in name
reunited people, people Infinitely
richer because Of The priceless memories
left to ali Americans by you men who
fought in the great war. Last Memorial
Day / spoke in Brooklyn, at the unwilling
of the statue of a northern general,
under the auspices of the Grand Army
of the, Republic, and that great audi
ence cherred every allusion 10 the
valor and self-devotion of the men
who followed Lee as heartily as they
cheered every allusion to the valor and
self-deyOtion of the men who followed
Grant. The wounds left by the great
civil war have loneed healed, but its
memories remain. Think of it, oh, my
countrymen, think of the good fortune
that Is ours That whereas every other
war OF modern times has left feelings OF
rancor and bitterness to keep asunder
the combatants, our great war has left to
the sons and daughters of the men who
fought, on whichever side they fought, The
same right to feel the keenest pride in
the great deeds alike of the men who
fought on one side and of the men who
fought on the other. The proud self
sacrifice, the resolute and daring courage,
the high and steadfast devotion 10 the
right as each man saw it, whether north
erner or southerner, these qualities render
all Americans forever the debtors Of those
who IN the dark days from '6l to '65
proved their truth by their endeayor.
Here around Richmond, here in your
own State, there lies battlefield after
battlefield, rendered forever memorable
by the men who counted death as but
a little thing when weighed in the bal
ance against doing their duty as it was
given them to see it. These men have
left US OF the younger generation not
merely the memory Of what they did
in war, but of what they did in peace.
Foreign observers predicted that when
such great war closed it would
be impossible for the hundreds of
thousands of cOmbatants to return to the
paths of peace. They predicted cease
less disorder, wild turbulence, the alter
nation of anarchy and despotiam. But
the good sense and se!f.restralnt OF The
average American citizen falsifed these
prophecies. The great armies disbanded
and the private in the ranks, like the
officer who had commanded him, went
back to take up the threads OF his life
where he had dropped them when the
call to arms came. tireat though the
need of praise is which is due the South
for the soldierly yslor her sons displayed
during the four years of war, | think
that even greater praise is due to her for
what her people have accomplished in
the forty years of peace which followed.
The Continental troops in their blue and
buff, who fought under Washington and
Greene and Wayne, differed entirely in
training from those who in blue or gray
faced one another in the armies of Grant
and of Lee, of Sherman and of Johnston.
And now the sons of these same Union
and Confederate veterans who serve in
our gallant little army of today, wear
different uniform, carry different weap-
on, and practice different tactics. But
the soul of the soldier has remained the
same throughout, and the qualities
which drove forward to victory or to
death the men OF '76 and the men of '6l,
are the very qualities which the men of
today must keep unchanged if in the
hour of need the honor OF the nation is
to be kept untarnished.