The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-05-31


 other had been ready when the nouI of supreme appeal came to snow nis worth by his endeavors, ana men wuo now leave to their children ano ga sn nf honor forever, the memory or the st deeds done alike by those who foushtt under Grant and by those who lousns under Lee; for we, because of the very sact that the Union triumphed, now have the right to feel ike pride n inc yalor and devotion or those WIZ valiantly fought tdse aga1ns, who ,naiiy sanNtheir efforts and their sufferings crowned Ds triumph. (Applause.l
 Think of 1t, my fellow countryLnen think of what a thrice blessed fortune has been ours that the greatest war that the nineteenth century saw a1Ier the close of the Napoleon struggies should have left not as most ennories of bitterness dishonor and shame to offset the memories of glory, memories which make the men or one siae hdms ass; their heads, but which nave not % %ne,. that but should have left to the VIC tors and vanquished alike, atter tne temporary soreness IS over, tnS otino right to feel the proudess sa1,sian us devo. in the honor, the gallantry, the devo tion to the right as eacn slue "h given to see the right done allke pS 1hose who overcome as vlctors, aho those who finally went down III uele lea.. s 1AnnIause) Surely there is need TO! me to say but little in behalf or wna. has been said before 1 began to speak as to the prime significance oI at nI snI. dier. A most gallant and able ccmman, der. Once the war was over, ne tulheSt as whole heartedly to the pursuits s,e ed oa peaGbe tbe as Strife riff H of arms. We are able to point to General Slocum as tne 'ype os what a decent American should pe' s a man who was an eXafhPeh husiness family life; an example In ms pusihhS1S1s relations honest and upright Pupi,c servant no less than fearless anu a'ie soldier. ,...
 Now, I want all, you people tore to re, member the two sides of the lesson taught by General Slocums ire. "A "A successful war for nnrightesGjusaei tsjnsa if is The thing that sets back more than aught else the course of ciVilizatlon. But no people worth preserving. ebgs eha existed or will exist that was not apt" to fight if the time arose (applausel. and so with the individual. Ine t liiat who possesses great abllity ana sIrai courage unaccompanied py lnT n g,iided sense, a courage and ability unguiuett .,st hy the stern purpose to do what IS JusA and upright, that man is renderea ps the fact of having the courage ana tue abi1ity- only so much the greater men ace to community in which ne uhloi tunately dwells Qoud applause.)
 "The other side is that no amount of good intention. no amount oI owe ness in life. no amount of apprecfieioi of decency avails in the least In the rough work of the world as we find IL unIess back of the honesty of purpose hack of the decency of life and thought lies the power that makes man a man (AnpIause) It is true of the indlvld- ual and it is true of the nation. IL is to te last degree desirable q Will put it stronger than that. lt IS ansot | lutely essential. that this nation. If IL | is to hold the position in the future that 1t has held in the past. must act not only within. but without US own | borders in a spirit of justice, and or | large generosity towards all other na- tions. Applausel we owe an obligation to ourselVes' we owe those obligations 10 all man | kind More and more as we increase | in strength hope to see a correspond | ing increase in the sober sense of re- sponsibiIity which shall prevent us either injuring or insulting any other people. You may notice that l said 1n- sulting' as well as injuring. II there | Is one quality sometimes shown among us. which is not commendable, 1t Is habit of speaking loosly about foreign | powers. foreign races.
 | You do not need any of you to be l told that in private life you will resent | an insult quite as much as an injury and our public writers need 10 steadily | keep before their minds the thought that no possible good can come to us by speaking offensively of any enc else 1 (applause) and trouble may come, that the surest way for a nation to invite disaster is to be aggressive and un- armed daughter and applause).
 Our Opulency.
 Now we are opulent and l hope We will remain so. I trust that We shall never be aggressive unless aggression Is not merely justified but demanded (applause), either by our own self re- spect, but by the interests of mankind and finally remember that to be aggres- sive, above all, to be aggressive in speech and not be armed, invites not merely disaster. but the contempt of mankind (applauseO
 Brooklyn not only furnished valiant soldiers, but 1t furnished in times ot peace a most excellent secretary of the navy (pointing to General Tracey upon the platform). (Applause). If our navy is good enough. we have long career of peace before us (applause) and the only likelihood of trouble ever coming to us as the nation will arise ii we let our navy become too small ol inefficient. (Applause). A first class navy. first class in point of size, above all first class in point of efficiency of the individual units, is the surest and cheapest guarantee of peace; and should think that any man looking al what is happening and has happened abroad and in our own history during the past few years, must indeed be blind if he cannot read that lesson clearly.
 And General Slocum did his firs great public service when the crisis called not primarily for softer ant milder, but for the sterner and harder virtues; and we cannot afford in thi! day of material luxury, in this day when civilization tends to make lift easy, we cannot afford to ignore thos' hard and stern virtues In the work Eday world as 1t is, not only in war bu in private life and In public life alike a man has to have the strength of fibrt or he canot put into effect even tn best of his efforts and he cannot affort to let the generation that is coming ul grow up with the feeling that an! quality will serve as a substitute fo the old and essential quality of manli ness in a man and womanliness in woman. (Applause.)
 As to Education.
 Much, very much, has been done Il this country by education. No on can overstate the obligations that thi country is under to educators, but Il
 taking advantage of all the improves
 methods let us not forget that ther are certain qualities which are no new, which are eternal, because the
 are eternally true, and the failure t develop which will cause loss whicl cannot be offset by any merely intel lectual and mental gain And yo
 men of the Civil War, you men to whor
 this country owes more than to an