Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-31
nAVc TlInIIT[ TN
/ HID lHIUUIL III
NATIONS HEROES
PRESIDENT H0NoRS THE BLUE
AND THE GRAY
Decoration Day Services at Ports
mouth, Virginia, and Elsewhere
Are Both Beautiful and
Impressive

plain, everyday citizen as he does his
everyday duties. For we must always
remember that in our country our army
and navy are an army and navy made
up OF volunteers; all our forces are
volunteers; our regulars, afioat and
ashore are merely our fellow citizens
who of their own free will have taken
up this particular task.
"The task once through they return
to the body of our citizenship: and
exactly as the efficiency of our military
service depends chiefly, upon the eff
cheney Of the average enlisted man. so
the efficiency Of the nation as a whole
depends chiefly upon the way in which
the average man performs his plain,
everyday duties.
"This does not mean that the leader,
whether IN military or civil life, can
escape bearing a peculiar burden of
responsibility To him has been
given much and from him much will
be demanded IT is light and proper
that the man in a high position. wheth-
er HIS position be that Of high civilian
Official in time of peace or high mill
tary or naval officer in time of war,
should receive a marked degree of
credit II he performs his difficult, deli
cate and responsible task well, and
should, on the other hand, be held to
an especially sharp accountability for
any shortcomings.
First Duty Is to Be a Leader
''In any time of crisis the man in
high Office in civfl life, the man in
high command in military or naval life,
can, II he be weak or incompetent,
paralyze the actions of multitude of
brave and able men. who are under
him. On the other hand If in intellect.
and above all, in character, he is able
to rise level to the need Of the moment,
he may so combine and direct the ac-
tions OF the many under him as to
make their joint effort irresistible.
"The first duty of a leader, civil or
military, Is to lead: and he must lead
well. Exactly as the people must de-
mand the highest grade of integrity
and efficiency from their leaders in
civil affairs, so in military affairs they
must insist upon every officer devoting
all the best there is in him to fitting
himself in the duties of his profession,
to caring for and drilling and training
those under him. so that alike in point
of personnel and in point of material
the army and navy Of the United States
may reach as high point of perfection
as is humanity possible. This is the
work that only the leaders can do; and
IL they shirls it their shame is un-
speakable.
Nevertheless it remains true that no
leader can accomplish very much un-
lead. Unless the enlisted man has the
right stuff in him it stands to reason
that no officer can get 1t out of him.
because it Is not there to get out.
80 in civil life, If all our leaders
were Washingtons and Lincolns they
could, nevertheless. make no perman-
ent Improvement in our citizenship un-
less the average citizen had in him the
capacity for such Improvement. In
the last analysis it is the man behind
the ballot who counts most in civil life,
just as it is the man behind the gun
who counts most in military life.
All Praise to Great Generals
1--WE cannot too highly honor the
memory Of the leaders in the civil war
of Grant and Lee, of Sherman and
Johnson of Stonewall Jackson and
Sheridan, of Farragut and of the cap
tains who fought under and against
him.
But after all the man upon whom
the chief credit must rest was the plain
man in the ranks, the man in blue or In
gray who went in to see the war
through, and who did see it through.
He had the courage to stand without
flinching the pickering of the skir
nnishes and the haunmering of the great
fights; he had the. steadfast endurance
to bear with uncomplaining resolution
the hunger and the heat and the cold,
the scorching days and the freezing
nights, the grinding, heartbreaking
fatigue of the marches, the wearisome
monotony OF the camps, and the slow
suffering of the field hospitals.
so in the army and the navy today
In the analysis we must depend upon
having the right stuff in the enlisted
man and then upon having that stuff
put into proper shape. So again in
our republic as a whole it is just as
true in peace now as it was forty-five
years ago in war that it Is the character
of the average man that must be the
determining factor in achieving ma
tional success or going down to ma
tional disaster.
Leadership is necessary in order that
we may get really good results out of o
high average of individual character;
but without the high character in the
average Individual the leadership by
itself can avail but little.
Words Not Intended as Flattery
Now it is easy to say this in words