Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1905-05-31

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thanks for the honor you have con-
ferred upon me in inviting me to de-
liver the memorial address of this day
l come to the task in no mood of self
confidence, ror in any spirit of self
comp placency. for realize full well
that you could easily have chosen
some one else more fitted in every way
to perform the demands Of this hour.
And yet | would not shrink from its
spOnsibilitieS, nor shirk the task,
for in accepting them | shall have the
| opportunity of expressing to you veter-
ans the love and admiration with
which we OF a younger generation
view your glorious deeds in war, and
look upon your valor aud spirit cf
| sacrifice in time when our country
needed and called for your services.
You then went out to fight for cause
you believed in, and that faith lent
strength to your arm, and iron to your
! purpose.
Memorial day suggests conflicting
emotions. Feelings of g!adness and
JOY, OF sadness and loss, sense of
reverence and awe fill this hour with
their hallowed power. We are glad
DIT the thoughts of the bravery of our
soldiers We are glad that so many
OF you are still with US, and the ex-
ample Of your courage in a day of
storm and stress calls for our emula-
ton. and inspires us to lofty reaches of
patriotism. But we are sad when we
thiuk of those of your comrades who
have gone to increase the number of
The silent majority, and to enlarge the
boundaries of the cities of the dead :;
sorry for those who laid down their
strong. noble, young lives on the bat
tie fields of many conflict, and who,
leaving home and all their dear ones
went forth to the war with the faith
and love of throbbing life never to re
turn to the embrace of their loved
ones. Sadness filled the heart of the
widow, the fatherless child, the old
mother, the fond sweetheart then; and
sadness fills our hearts today as we
look upon your thinned and thinning
ranks.
The members of the Grand Army of
the Republic are leaving the scenes
of their earthly activity in ever in
creasing numbers. The maximum
membership of your order was reached
IN 1890 when 4O9, ,4S9 names we're en-
rolled upon its records. In 1898 the
annual death rate was SO to every
10, 900 Of the old soldiers. Today the
ratio stands at 352 to every 10000,
- II
| of over four hundred thousand, but
246, ,261 responded to the roll-call.
Through these figures, and from per-
sOnal observation the realization is
borne home to US that before the pass
ing OF many more years the last veter-
an Of our Civil war will have answered
to his last roll call, and will have
gone to join the comrades who have
crossed the great Divide.
Mingling with the feelings of Joy,
inspiration sadness and loss, there is
another sense struggling for express
siOn-a sense of reverence. rising we'll
nigh to the heig ht of worship as we glad :
ly pause from our busy toll to give a
place for the proper observance Of this
day. There is a solemnity to the exer
cises of this time which casts spell of
worship over us, and subdues to a
hushed and reverent silence all the
noisy tumults of our daily life. | can
| never restrain, nor do [ ever attempt
to, this feeling Of awe that comes over
me whenever | see line of the Grand
Army men in marching order. In
faded uniform. with bent form, and
faltering step, they pass on, the en-
bOdiment of faith and courage, a
country's stay and hope in time of
need
But / ask, what is the purpose of
Memorial day, and what its value for
US? Some can see no good in an insti-
tuition, which they say, keeps alive the
flame of sectional strife, and which,
glorifying the accomplishments of the
North, remains unmindful OF the
wounds, struggles, and bravery of our
brethren of the South. 10 the first
criticism that this institution keeps
alive the feeling of sectional jeolousy
and hatred, may |, as your speaker,
reply that this feeling Of hatred is
gradually dying out, and that the
North and the South are again
joining hands in facing the practical
problems of our national life. AS a
proof of this, witness the blue and the
gray fighting side by side in the Span
ish- American war Witness the Ia
ment OF the North as well as of the
South at the death of General Fitz-
hugh Lee, once confederate officer.
and nephew of the great Robert r.
Lee. Witness ..Fighting Joe" Wheel
er, an officer Of the Confederacy, be
come general in the army of a
reunited land. Witness a conf, derate
monument dedicated few years ago
in the city of Chicago. Witness the
enthusiastic receptions accorded our
Presidents, men of the North, by the
people of the South. Witness the
movement, championed by the fore
most men of your organization, making
for union between the Blue and the
Gray These are indications of the
new era of fraternal feeling which has