Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1906-1908, 1907-05-31
MEMORIAL SPEECH BY
JUDGE GEORGE GRIMM
DELIVERED YESTERDAY AT
COMMEMORATIVE SERVICES.
A Fitting Tribute to the Memory of
the Departed Comrddes-PointS
Out Brave Deeds of DEVOTED Men
Who Sacrificed Lives Upon the
Alter of Patriotism.

HIlilliH VI JeIIerSCn, ySsIeiuay dllSI-
noon at the Turner opera house. 1t
is a fitting tribute to the memory of
the departed comrades and should be
read and preserved by every reader
of The Leader. 1t follows:
Ladies and Gentlemen: We meet to-
day to commemorate the brave deeds
of the devoted men who sacrificed their
lives upon the altar of patriotism.
A grateful nation pays homage at
their graves and covers the little green
mounds with the bright young blossoms
of Spring. Each succeeding year these
acts OF love are renewed and the seed
of patriotism sown in the hearts OF a
younger generation. Monuments of
bronze and stone at vast aggregate
expense are erected by the nation, by
states and municipalities, as tribute
to the patriotism of their dead soldier
and sailor sons, and patriotism is ex-
allied and worshipped as the purest gem
in the diadem Of citizenship.
And yet no lesser light and love of
mankind than the great Russian phil
osopher Toelstoy, has declared that
patriotism is selfish and immoral.
Listen to his words: "The so-called
patriotism of our time is certain
mood or frame of mind, which IS
being constantly aroused in the people
and maintained by schools, religion,
and a venal press to suit the wishes
of the government. 1t may be that
this sentiment Is very desirable and
very useful to the authorities and to
the integrity of the states, but one
cannot help seeing that it is not in
any respect lofty. On the contrary
it is very stupid and immoral. 1t is
stupid because if every state considers
itself the superior of all others then
evidently all of them are wrong. It
is immoral because it necessarily leads
every man who possesses it tu seek az
vantage for his own state at the
expense of other states,-a desire alb
souteIy antagonIstic to the accepted
moral law, which is: "Do not do unto
others what you would not have them
do unto you.
Count Tolstoy further claims that
patriotism is impossible in our ime
because "despite all efforts during
the last 1900 years to SUPPRESS the sense
of Christianity it nevertheless still
has such hold upon our lives that
we cannot help seeing the total in
compatibility Of patriotism with thuse
moral precepts which guide our lives. -
Again, he says that sat one time
patriotism was necessary for the Gre
alton and defense of states composed
of heterogeneous population; but the
patriotism of our time is cruel
tradition of the past and is kept alive
only by dint OF the efforts of the
ruling classes who are conscious that
on it rests not Only their authority
but also their existence"
While reading these gloomy express
sions of this gifted but cratic sage
condemning sentiment ever ranked
as one of the cardinal virtues of good
citizenship, one cannot but be moved
by compassion toward the author,
rather than by resentment. One can
not but feel that the colony surround
ings of his eventful life have cast a
shadow over his usually clear vision,
and that disgust at simulated pat
riotism-loud voiced and ardent only
when compelled at the bayonet's point
has blinded him to the perception of
another, noble and sublime patriotism
which has its source of being in the
human soul, and is as far removed
from the patriotism which he describes
as heaven is from hell.
The patriotism we believe in, the
patriotism we live and for which We
die, the patriotism we breathe and
teach unto our children, has in it no
element of hypocracy; it is the gift of
the eternal Spirit o good, it sIumbers
in the soul of every mortal and needs
but the magic touch of Love to awaken
to glorious life. 1t is patriotism which
creates, not which destroys; it builds
up, and does not tear down; IL seeks
no wrong advantage over another, but
seeks only to prevent another from
taking wrong advantage Of US; it
teaches not hatred of other nations.
nor does it believe that the destruction
of our neighbor will promote our own
welfare; it does not seek to build its
greatness upon the ruined homes and
hopes of the rest of mankind.
The patriotism We cherish consists
of love of our country and in the as
plratlon of preserving all that is good
in the character and institutions of
our nation, and to protect her honor.
James B. Angel, Of the University
of Michigan in reply to Count Tolstoy
wrote: eve profess as individuals
and IS nation, to be governed by
the principles of Christian ethics. We
are all agreed that patriotism is SO
commemorate virtue that we despise,
if we do not hate, a citizen who is
devoid of 1t. We are agreed that our
nation, if it is to be respected by others
or by US, must maintain its rights
with dignity and self-respect.
But We need not the testimony of