Graham guardian., 1907-02-15
LINCOLN CENTENNIAL

Inc nluetY-eiBntu ahhi'0J
of Abraham Lincoln whose value
20 the nation, If second to any,
is exceeded only by that of George
Washington, the country's first
president. Some of the sincerest
tributes that have ever been paid
20 Lincoln have come from the
south, and we can conceive OF no
more fitting commomeration OF
the centennial OF this great Amer
ioaA's birth, which will occur two
years hence, than general move
ment, regardless of geography, to
make the day national legal holi-
day.
1t is hardly to be expected that
every state in the Union, even
forty-four years after the close of
the civil war, will take such &C.
ton. Arkansas, Iowa and Missis-
sippi alone share the unenviable
distinction of being the only states
in which Washineton's birthday is
not legal holiday, and there are
only FIVE in which Lincoln's birth
day is not q legal ho!iday-Ill.
iuois, Minnesota, New Jersey,
New York and the state Of Wash
ington. 1t is one of the strangest
anomalies of our history that there
should be any states in the sister
hood of commcnwealths in which
the anniversary of the birth of the
first president of the republic IS
not legal holiday, but the distinc
tion of q universal holiday is
reserved for July 4.
American history has splen'
did trilogy of which the first two
are Washington, the preserver,
and Lincoln, the emancipator.
Probably in the years TO come the
third place will be secure for the
name of Mckinley, the unitier, but
the time for universal agreement
on the point does not seem to have
arrived. There is a glamor about
the name of military hero, and the
war is still too recent for decision |
between Grant and Lee. But IT
was left for McKinley's admins.
tration to set the seal of undivided
patriotism upon the republic in
war 10 which the first bloodshed |
was that southern man, in which
blue and gray veterans fought side
by side and in which their sons
stood shoulder TO shoulder in the
ranks. II Is for the future to de.
eide whether the man who was
shot down while speaking words
Of the loftiest patriotism deserves
place beside Washington and
Lincoln.
But for the preseEt it can surely
be argued that a more general
recognition of Lincoln'S place in
American history should mark the
one bundredth anniversary of his
birth. If any degree of sectional
ism should enter into the matter,
the fact that no was born on south
ern soil should count for much.
But this consideration should be
disregarded. If he is to be more
widely honored, it must be because
he was an American, not a Ken
tuckian. He knew no bitterness
OF section, no rancor of state lines.
He had no joy in war and no hat.
red for any part of the people
Geograpy more than CONJUNCTION
decided the place of many a sold.
Ter of the gray in that fratricidal
struggle. Lincoln loved the Union
mora than north or south and he
hated only rebellion and chains.
Every blow on either side smote
upon his great heart. Surely all
states which make the anniversary
Of our independence a legal holi-
day can consistently give some
patriotic recognition of the cen.
tennisl Of the birth of thus mighty
American who dedicated to hu-
man liberty the nation which /!
Washington freed from foreign
tyranny.
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