The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1906-06-01


cend asking God to make us worthy
the heritage they left us. Our country
did not always enjoy the peace and pros
perity that now is hers. There was a
time when the dark clouds that how
cred over our national sky: threatened
our very existence as nation. 1t was
then the brave men in whose memory
we met came to the rescue, sacrificing
their lives upon the altar of their coun-
try. May we never cease to herald theil
praises in poetry and in song. There
comes to each age its peculiar RESPONSE
bilty and work. Gratitude for the past
is not all that is necessary. The storms
are not all over, nor are the battles all
fought. There is foolish notion pre-
vailing among many that God cares foi
idiots. children and the United States
and all that is necessary on the part
of the people is to sing "My Country
lis of Thee" and vote with their ewes
shut, and all will be well. Such faith
is not warranted by the condition of So
ciety today. To Washington, Jefferson
and their compeers it was given to
break the letters that bound us to a
tyrant beyond the sea, an event which
proved to be a blessing to the civilized
world. TO Lincoln, Grant, Sherman
and the great unknown multitude that
made such men possible, was given the
glorious privilege of setting at liberty
four millions of men, women and chill
dren held in bondage in country call
ed the Land of the free and the home
of the brave;" and to demonstrate tC
the nations of earth, that righteousness
becometh a nation as well as an individ
ual. To be worthy such an ancestry We
should arise and manfully meet the obi
cations of today. 1t is ours to settle
the problems of the present as they
settled the problems of the past. 1t i:
ours to so adjust matters that the help
| less will be cared for, while the viciou:
are restrained, to see that the poor GET
I just compensation for their toll, while
the prosperous are not deprived of the
results of their industry. Over the un
conscious dust of those who sacrificed
their lives for the heritage we enjoy LEI
us dedicate anew our lives to the coun
| 5ry's welfare.
"They sleep the sleep of warriors, but
they speak from their graves today,
With thrill that goes to the heart
of those who would turn from the Right
away.
"Be true to your trust, as you honor
our dust, and the flag we bore" they
| say. 1--WE are not in danger of forget
ting to honor such men as Grant and
| Sherman and others that have become
heroes of evergi household but there is
LANCER of forgetting to honor the rank
and file, who fought as bravely "or
flames eternal camping ground" Fol
these also the nation sets apart a day
each year that the aged may teach the
young to remember the deeds of the
fathers. There IS no better way to fos
ter patriotism. We should see to it that
the day is kept sacredly for the pur
pose for which it was intended. All at
tempts to make it day of sport or rec
reation should be frowned upon. The
keeping of the Christmas season is il
many places very unchristllke
Thanksgiving has become day Of
feasting, Fourth of July day of riot
ing. Can we not have one day unmar
red by the follies of men We can dc
much to make this possible by refusing
to countenance any program that is
not wholly given to the memory of the
old soldier and his sleeping comrade.
This ought not to be difficult as the
cemeteries are everywhere. The GENE
tery to be bedecked this week is as
NoSu Ill SlLe. do ~ 10 hiSu anu Sioilou'
in meaning. 1t reaches all over thi:
great country of ours. There is not d
village where there may not be found
the green mound that marks the rest
ING place of one who died to perpetuatt
our national life. Right here in this
land where so many living citizens walk
so heartlessly disgracing the nation that
surpass all others in goodness, car
be found everywhere the grassy hillocl
marking the resting place of one who
died i'm the name of better humanity
Some time these graves will triumph
for the men who walk so ruthlessly over
them are full of sin and weakness, while
The mounds are eloquent with power
They will one day conquer. Surround
ing our national capital are six of these
sacred cities of the dead The military
,sylum. with its six thousand, Airing
ton with its sixteen thousand, two
thousand of them marked unknown
Within easy reach of our national CAPT
| tai, are sleeping twenty-five thousand
of the men who gave up all the pleasure
of this life for future generations. Any
public servant who is trying to barter
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