Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-02-02
LOYAL LEGION DINNER
TWenty-Fourth Anniversary
Meeting of the Order.
GEN. cHAFFEE PRESIDED
Vice President Fairbanks Discussed
"our country's Future"
TOAST TO ABSENT COMPANIONS
More Than Five Hundred Members
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Achieve
ments Of Founders.
TOAST TO ABSENT COMPANIONS

bly, shortly before o'clock last evening
and men who comma nded troops during the
civil war. officials of the government and
others of prominence to the number OF
about $50 took places at the banquet la
Bile. Thus began what proved to be one
of the most successful social sessions in the
history of the Military Order of the Loyal
Legion of the United States District of CO.
iunbia Commandery. The latter last even
ing celebrated the twenty fourth anniver-
sary of the date it was organized. Men
who fought through the war and youths
whose fathers had participated in the strife
were in ihe majority of those who consti-
tuted the gathering.
Lieut.. Gen. Adna r. Chaffee, who has
just relinquished the duties of chief-of-
staff of the army the commander of the
District Commandery, presided On his
right sat Charles w. Fairbanks, Vice Pres
ident of the United States, and at his left
was Associate Justice Wendell p. Stafford
of the Supreme Court of the District of CO.
lumbia. At the head table also were the
officers of the local commandery, several
OF the most eminent men in army and pub
lie life and special guests The use of two
halls was necessary to accommodate the
large throng which attended the banquet
The main room was artistically and APP
propriately decorated with American flags.
Around the walls were large representa-
lions of the rosettes worn by the members
of the legion. In the center was group
of army and navy flags interviewer. Huge
bouquets of flowers were placed on the Ia
bles at frequent intervals.
Prior to the conclusion of the repast
Fairbanks had been summoned by the
President to the White House, introduced
the Vice President to respond to the toast,
Our Countrys Future.
Remarks by Vice President.
ut would be very agreeable for me to
spend the evening with the Loyal Legion,
the speaker said II have known many OF
the members and 1 have never known bet
ter men. And am reminded that William
Mckinley wore roSette of the order When
his remains were about to be removed from
the city hall of Buffalo, where they had
been lying in state there was halt in the
procession, and some one lifted the cover
over his face and placed in his coat lapel
the button of the Loyal Legion.
MY theme is the future of our country.
What a magnificent theme! There Is no
one on this earth who has the prophetic
vision of such q comprehensive sweep to
set the future bounds of the United States.
The future will be great and splendid. be-
cause of the service rendered by you of the
war of 1916. In 1861, when Abraham
Lincoln issued his call for troops it would
have been a rash prophecy for a man, con-
sidering the then population OF 33,Uo0Uo
people, to have predicted that we would
so soon number nearly $4,000, 900, and that
our flag would be power in two hemt-
spheres"
Three hearty cheers We're given for the
Vice President.
one of the most impressive incidents of
the evening occurred Immediately following
the end of the repast proper. This was the
trooping of the colors, with Captain Robert
Armour and Lieutenant Lyman f. w.
Gushing as color bearers. AS the busle
Souuded the color bearers marched from
the rear of the room to the front, carrying
tho flag of the United States and the blue
Mote
ford formally presented the coiors to the
commander. Commander Chaffee received
the flags and they were placed in position
Just back of his chair.
The toast to the President of the United
States was then drunk, all standing. Next
in order was toast to Abraham Lincoln
and then one to the deceased companions
Mr.. Washington Gardner, representative
in Congress, from Michigan, was intro
duced. He said in part:
In speaking of the victories of peace.
am not unmndful that in the wake of war
follow some of the greatest victories of |
peace. War is the incarnation of strife, of |
discord, of sacrifice, and yet battletelds |
have often illuminated pathways to human |
progress. In the pathway of the storm, we |
see devastation and waste; but when the |
clouds roll away it seems that the sky had |
never been blue, the atmosphere never |
SO clear. So the political atmosphere of |
the country was surcharged with sectional |
hate, at the time of the war; and when the |
light of peace shone in, We found that the |
land had been drenched with human blood |
and that cry of woe had gone up from |
every household, north and south. But the |
great questions that had bafied the wisest |
statesmen were settled.
The Ideal Citizen.
Justice Stafford, the next speaker, said in |
part:
citizenship is the relation between man |
and his country. Every new relation adds |
something to the interest of life We pity |
the woman who has never known the pain |
and bliss of motherhood. We pity the man |
who has never held his child upon his knee. |
Our ideal man is not an archorite, but |
lover, a husband, father, friend, a |
patriot IN the ways and walks of peace A |!
patriot is one who serves his country be- |
cause he loves her. There are those two |
essentials, the deed and the motive.
ut Is sublime creation of the heart and |
mind. Did you ever think how much has /
Why, all her past is In it, all the great |
deeds that have been done, all the costly |
sacrifices that have been made in her whole |
history-all these have blended to give |
beauty and grandeur to the idea that fills |
our minds when we say our country We |
think of what she has stood for before the |
world--for liberty, for justice, for equality |
between man and man. We think of her |
great achievements-how she shook off the |
foreign yoke subdued the continent and |
wiped out with her best blood the single |
stain on her banner, and how she became |
the champion of an oppressed people. All |
this we see and mean when we say our /
country
Senator William Warner Of Missouri paid |
a tribute to the speakers of the evening and /
to Lieut. Gen Chaffee. DIR. Charles W. |
Needham. president of George Washington |
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