The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-05-31
GRAVES OF THE DEAD
c A. R. EXERCISES AT 0AKw0OD
 CEMETERY.
Judge c. W. Buckley and Rev. C. R. Hodge Principal Speakers
 of Decoration Day.

Wednesday afternoon the few re- maining members of William B. Woods Post. c. A. R.. celebrated the Federal Decoration Day and the fortieth an- niversary of the founding of the Grand Army by services held at the Posts two lots in oakwood Cemetery. Only a few were gathered in the tent which was raised for the occasion--a faint echo in the Cradle of the Confed- eracy as one of the speakers described it, reproducing in spirit. though not in displaying the memorial celebration of the day in the cities of the North. Post Commander Austin presided over the exercises. which were opened with the singing of ~'The Flag of the Free" This was followed by an in- vocation by Judge c. W. Buckley, the chaplain of the post and after the singing of America" Judge Buckley
 read sketch of the history Of the G. A. R.
 Judge BuckIey's paper spoke of the National spirit which the war between the States developed, the crowning re-
 suit of which he said was the deter imitation that we are and must re- main one people and one government" He said the nation had shown Itself capable of the widest expansion. yet the closest unity. He referred to the fact that the United States was now d WOTlQ power put sdlQ tHht IAo bpdh- | ish-American war was the occasion and | not the cause of this, that 1t but seal | ed the unity of purpose and action which already existed.
 Wherever the flag floats now" said | he, 'it is recognized as the standard | of mighty nation which loves the | pursuits of peace as the most price, I less of blessings.
 | After the singing of "The Red. White and Blue'' Rev. Charles R. Hodge. the principal speaker of the occasion was introduced. He said that the men whose graves were strewn with memorial wreaths fought for what they believed
 to be the truth. just as the soldiers of the Confederacy who were equally gal lant and sincere fought for what they believed to be right.
 Most Americans have fully learned that the War Between the States is
 over." said the speaker. and nowhere Is this more fully realized than in Montgomery.
 At the close of the war the men who were through fighting and were ready to shake hands were those who had met each other on the field of bat tie. The post-bellum antagonism from the North was not kept up by former combatants. Though there are some things which are hard for some to forget as Andersonvilie prison for
 
 there and Sherman's march to the l sea which still rankles in the hearts of Southerners we have most of us come to realize that Tank and Johnny reb were after the same kind of people. The South began to realize this before we did. They found out even during the war that Abe Lincoln was no go- rilla, and we have later come to learn
 that Jefferson Davis was noble. chiv- a1rous and grand son of the South. Both sides in that conflict won, for truth is thing that can not die. The great triumph for the North was that the Union must and shall be pre- served and the victory of the South. which was equally as great was that there shall be no undue centralization of authority. The States. since the war. have been progressing independ- ently of each other and 1t is a greater
 thing now than ever before for one to say that he is an Alabamian or a New Yorker or a Californian.
 It was for these two principles that the Southern and Northern men took the field. Of course. there were men in the Northern regiments who went to soldering for the pay there was in 1t and there were men in the South
 who fought only because their homes
 were endangered but the moving pow CT on each side was the vital prin- ciples of government"
 Lincolns address at Gettysburg
 which is a part of all memorial day
 programs was read by Marshall Hulet.
 George Hodge blew taps
 Resolutions proposed by Judge Buck
 ley were passed thanking the speaker
 of the occasion. the musician and Pat
 rick Ryan, sexton of the city ceme-
 tery.