Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1906-06-05

Shed, the tremendous expenditure of
the moneys of the nation, we are re-
minded of the simple, sturdy, manly
/ character of the soldiers of our nation.
Verify they were Spartan heroes; brave,
manly fellows; men who had been
reared in simplicity, frugality, and
many of them in actual poverty; men of
strong, sturdy character.
| That is why the danger, which
threatened the very existence of this
young republic, in the "bloody six
ties" was successfully overcome, for
ever banished from this fair land
That is why America has accomplished
so many great things in the past; that
is the reason she has glorious history;
that is why her glory and renown have.
been recognized by every nation of the
earth.
Gallant soldier boys of America, who
established in your blood and sacrifice,
and conserved in fidelity and bravery,
this mighty republic, salute you! Ye
boys in blue and We boys in gray,
who rest beneath the sod, who sleep the
sleep OF the brave, | bow in reverence
to your memory! And ye veterans of
the civil war, who are still amongst US,
as the son of veteran, who helped
fight the battles of this nation, | honor
you, salute youl As the son of an
honored veteran, as free-born Amer
lean, who loves lis country, l respect
and honor the remnant of that gallant
band of boys who preserved the integri-
ty OF my country in the dark and
bloody days of rebellion.
But yo1r ranks are thinned and thin
ing; one by one as the years roll away
you answer the fins.i bugal call. Your
heads are gray, your forms are bent,
your brows are furrowed, your steps
are slow :nd tottering. In few years
not one shall have remainded of your
gallant band to tell of your deeds of
yalor and patriotism. | pray God
that as each and every one of you,
who still remain to fight the moral and
civic battles of life, shall answer the
last call to arms, that you shall be
found worthy to be gathered with your
fathers In that country where there are
no more So.rowS, no more partings, no
more wars, hor rumors or wars, where
all is peace and happiness and content
ment.
And after you shall have gone from
earth, it shall be our duty to watch and
guard and guide the ship of state, to
keep alive the fires of patriotic love in
American hearts.
Sirs, it is a great responsibility which
you have placed upon our shoulders,
but we accept it, we embrace it. Per-
sonally, L gladly accept the burden of
the responsibility of citizenship. For l
love America, and | salute hei starry
banner, the flag of my country beneath
whose fold my father fought, under
whose protection my forefathers found
refuge from the tyranny of foreign
lands, home, peace, plenty, a voice in
no ffott Of .asrF 70
worship God according to the dictates
of conscience
That, my fellow citizens, of all creeds
and of every nationality, shall ever re-
main true to the common cause for
which our ancestry fought and died,
feel assured today. God grant that the
great body OF our people. the rank and
file of American citizens, shall never re-
lax the vigilance of their guard over the
citadel of their liberties, shall never
sleep at their post while the enemy
steals away their freedom, their nation
ality. The voice of the past, the hopes
and promises of the future, urge them
on to great and noble deeds, to patriot
ism, to true nobility of character.
Yea, from out the solemn silence of
the past, from the mouldering sepul-
chers of nations gone, from the sad and
silent biyouac of our nations honored
dead, from the topbs of Washington
and Lincoln and Grant and Sherman,
and Sheridan; from the lonely graves
OF all those who labored and fought and
perished in the holy cause of freedom
and independence in this beautiful land |
of the west-from these silent monu-
ments of the past there come the voices |
of warning and of nspiration-voices
exhorting US, solemnly adjuring us to |
be faithful to the common cause for
which our ancestry fought and died, the |
cause of liberty and independence.
Greece cries to us from the convulsed |
lips of her poisoned, dying Demosthenes;
Rome pleads with us in the burning |
eloquence of her mangled Tuly; Poland |
implores us by the loss of her nation |
ality; Switzerland speaks to us from |
the tomb of her brave William Tell;
Ireland coniures us by the bravery and |
elOquence of her well-beloved Robert |
Emmett, and America adjures us by the |
blood of our forefathers to meet all |
dangers OF our country courageously, |
patriotically and conquer them forever.
| firmly believe that we of the Goth |
century shall remain faithful, shall per-
form our whole duty as American citi- |
zenS.
/ have faith in the genuine good sense
of our people and therefore l believe in
their patriotism, in their love of country. |
| have faith in the beautiful flag of our
country, whose white means purity, |
whose red means self-denial, whose |
blue means fidelity, and whose stars
mean the smiles of peaceful, cloudless
heavens"
And | have faith, above all, in the
good God, who guides the destinies of
nations, who holds in His hands the |
judgments for her people. For, behind |
the clouds of doubt aud anxiety the sun
of eternal justice and hope and con-
fidence is still shining. Therefore, to-
day, as the curtain of the future seems |
to roll for time from before our vision,
we see our land fair now, but fairer yet |
than now. There we behold one people,
one great nation, enjoying liberty of |
conscience, freedom of the press and |
freedom of speech, every citizen having
voice in the affairs of government. |
And from this congregation of the
children of men, united with that great
er congregation of every nation and |
tribe and tongue, into which at last our
people shall one day enter, there rises |
the grand choral chant:-"God even |
our own God hath blessed US, and we
ask for no more"