The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-06-01

and the self-devotion alike OF the men
who wore the blue and of the men who
wore the gray in the contest where
brother fought brother with equal cour-
age, with equal sincerity of conviction,
with equal fidelity to high ideal, as it
was given to each to see that ideal.
Moreover, it is peculiar pleasure to
speak today under the auspices of the
army and navy union, Of the union
which is meant to include the officers
and enlisted men of the regular forces
I of the United States. Exactly as there
is no other body of men to whom in the
past we have owed so much as to the
veterans of the civil war, so there is no
| other body of men among all of our cit
, liens of today who as a whole deserve
quite as we'll of the country as the Off
GERS and enlisted men Of the army and
the navy of the United States. Every
man who has served well and faithfully,
af1oat or ashore, in the service of the
United States, has shown that he pos
| sesses certain qualities which entltle
| him in a peculiar degree to the respect
| OF all his fellow-citiZens, while every
man who is now in the service can not
| but feel himself uplifted by the thought
| that in any time of future crisis it may
be that the honor of the whole nation
| will depend upon his bearing. There
rests upon each of you a tremendous
burden of responsibility, and therefore
| to you belongs the proud privilege of
bearing that load of responsibility well.
This audience is composed largely OF
veterans Of the civil war, largely Of
men who have served in or are serving
| in the army and the navy OF the United
States. They are concerned not only
with the duties of the soldier and the
sailor, but with the duties of the civil
| liam, with all matters affecting the
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, afoat
and ashore, are merely our fellOw-citi-
zens 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 efficiency of
I the enlisted man, so the efficiency Of
| the nation as a whole depends chiefly
upon the way in whcih 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 re-
I sponsibility To him has been given
much and from him much will be de-
manded. 1t is right and proper that
the man in high position, whether
| his position be that or high civilian
official in time of peace or of high mill
| itary or naval officer in time OF war,
! should receive a marked degree Of
credit if he performs his difficult, deli
cate, and responsible task we'll, and
| should, on the other hand, be held to
an especially sharp accountability for
! any shortcomings. In any time OF
crisis the man in high Office in civil
life, the man in high command in mil
! tary Or naval life, can, if he be weak Or
| incompetent, paralyZe the actions OF
| d 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 actions of the many under
sistible The first duty Of leader,
civil or military is to lead: and he must
| lead we'll Exactly as the people must
demand the highest grade Of integrity
and efficiency from their leaders in
civil affairs, so in military affairs they
must insist npon every officer devoting
| all the best that there is in him to
fitting himself in the duties of his pro-
g., I,.:I ND
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 a
point Of perfection as is humanity possi-
ble This is the work that only the
leaders can do; and if they shirk it
their shame is unspeakable.
Nevertheless it remains true that no
leader can accomplish very much un-
less he has the right kind of men to
lead. Unless the enlisted man has the
right stuff in him it stands to reason
that no officer can get it out of him, be-
cause it is not there to get out. So in
civil life, if all our leaders were Wash
ingtons and Lincolns they could, never
theless. make no permanent improve
ment in our citizenship unless the aver
age citizen had in him the capacity for
such improvement. In the last analy-
sis 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.
We can not too highly honor the
memory of the leaders in the civil war
I-of Grand and Lee. of Sheridan and
Johnston, 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
f1inching the pickering of the skir-
mishes and the hammering OF the
great fights; he had the steaafast en-
durance to bear with uncomplaining