The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1905-06-23
GRAND ARMY OF REPUBLIC.
Objects and Purposes Of That Great
Vete ans Org anization.
From Friday's Daily


From Fridays Daily.
John B. mman, past commander of
Illinois g. A. r., thus describes the OBJ
iects and purposes of the Grand Army
of the Republic:
A fraternity differing from all 9th
er fraternities; fraternity born in
war, yet child of peace: Engendered
amid scenes of trial and danger, and
yet fostered, nourished and kept alive
for almost forty years by one of the
most tender and loving comradeships of
which we have knowledge. A frater-
nifty made up of kind words, and kindly
acts, of friendships which are honest
and true
Standing recently on ground made sa-
cred by the dedication of monument
that had been erected to the memory of
the soldiers and sailors of the civil war,
was profoundly impressed with the
symmetry, beauty and grandeur of that
stately shaft, that lifted its head high
toward the Author of All Good; and it
seemed to me that if full justice and
honor could be done the memory of
those men, it would go on and up and
up and on until the heroic figure that
graced its summit should have for a
halo the starry shields of the night.
| looked again; this time through
and beyond the solid and pulseless gram
ite and bronze and | saw mighty host
of heroes struggling for the preserva-
ton of the union; | saw nearly a half
million of loyal lives voluntarily laid
upon the altar of the country they love;
saw more than three hundred thous-
and manly men YEARLY vending their
way homeward, manned and crippled for
life; / saw multitude of loved ones
watching for their loved ones who did
not return; and / said to myself. This
Grand Army of the Republic means
something, stands for something, these
men did something. And this is true.
They saved the union; insured its unity
and perpetuity; furnished an inspira-
ton for every soldier since; made pos
sible Dewey's victory at Manila BAY,
made possible all we have achieved as
a country and that stamps us today the
greatest and most resourceful nation
on the face of the earth.
But, into these ranks no recruits can
come; and hence it must follow that
this great liberty loving institution is
fast approaching an inevitable focus be-
yond which no man can go and around
which there leads no road; and so one
day, Memorial Day perhaps, the last
comrade shall YEARLY, but cheerfully
and lovingly, wend his way to some
beautiful city of the dead, and while
the sun with his ladle of gold dips the
dew from the grass and the flowers, de-
post the last token of love and re-
spect from the Grand Army of the Re-
public on the grave of union soldier
Then, let him depart in peace and lie
down "To sleep the sleep that knows
no waking" while the Almighty Faith
er of the universe shall lower the cur
tain that tells the play is done; the last
soldier has made his exit, the stage is
empty! But the. principles for which
these men contended shall go down the
ages, building for them q monument
more enduring than granite or marble or
bronze; one that shall span this inter
vening space that we call time and rest
on the towers that mark two great
aternities.
Then, and not till then, will come the
greatest glory to the Grand Army of
he Ronltblio