Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1907-07-09
JUDGE BENSON'S ADDRESS
Delivered at the Celebration in Dallas,
July 9TH, 1907.

VIII Jue music: Others brushed away
their tears with empty sleeves; still
others looked enviously upon tn,
crutch and the empty sleeve, as if, il
their hearts, they we're saying, 'Thest
were more fortunate than I, in tha
they were able to sacrifice more fol
this sweet land than l." But wher
the parting salute had been fired, anC
the bugles had thrilled the multitudes
with the last shrill notes of ''taps, and
the procession had broken ranks,
watched with deep interest the dispo.
sltion Of the flowers.
One Of the veterans with empty
sleeve placed his treasure Of flowers
upon the grave of a comrade, with
whom he had marched, with whom he
had tented, and with whom he had
shared his last worm-e eaten crust, and
as he turned away, with wet cheeks,
said to myself, This man has done
much for his country, because he
loves il"
| saw an elderly spinster, whose
gray hairs, pale face, and care worn
form told Of weary years of unrequited
waiting and watching, lay her sweet
tribute of forget-me-nots upon the
mound where moldered the manly
form Of her soldier-boy, whom she
had kissed and sent to the war. She
had sent him forth with an aching
heart, but brave, false smile, and
sat her down to await his return,
hoping there might come a day when
she could go forth to meet him, with
the band playing Sect the Conquering
Hero Comes;" but alas, her waiting
has been in vain, and now she waits
with loyal heart for the summons
which shall unite them across the
dark river, where they may rest in the
shade Of the trees, and renew their
vows once more. And I said, "She
too has paid the price for a united
Nation, because she loves it."
Again 1 looked, and beheld an aged
father and mother, whose snow-white
locks and bent forms suggested a long
and strenuous life, which had not
been over-prosperous; their garments
were so plain and worn as to indicate
poverty and hardship. In their hands
they carried poor little boquets Of wild
already willing in the summer
heat. They wandered from grave to
grave, each time with disappointment
written upon their sad faces, and
looking into each others eyes with
questioning glance, as If they asked,
"Where have they laid the body of
our deadP" And finally they wandered
wearily to another part Of the cemetery
and cast their pitiful tribute upon a
mound whose white board bore the
pathetic legend, "Unknown," and
then, hand in hand, with rending
sobs, they wandered out into the glare
of the busy world; and l said to my
self, "They have baptised this Nation
With their hearts best blood"
These scenes confirm one in the
'aith OF our country's patriotism.
scenes assure us that the latent
oyalty and love Of our fatherland
need but the stimulus Of just cause
and righteous indignation to flash
ike lightning into throbbing, burn
ng lifel
Is the Declaration Of Independence
mere sentiment? Well, yes, grant
you that it is but a memory Of the
past. Igrant that it is but the record
If an initial event in the history OF
,ur Nation. But what then? Eliminate
sentiment from our thoughts; cut out
,verything from our environment ex-
,ept cold fact and material substance
md this life of ours would not be
worth the living. The fact is that the
rue philosophy teaches US that senti-
nent is the real, substantial thing in
life, and that everything else is sub
,rdinate and unreal Everything
lse is wrapped up in the sordid
truggle for food and shelter, to enable
IS to live on, while we revel in the
cal Joys of sentiment.
But what is there in the sentiment
urrounding the celebration OF the
Vation's birthday which would justify
o great rejoicing as this9 What is
here in the roar of gunpowder, the
,lare of the trumpet, the martial
music of the bands, and the streaming
Z the stars and stripes in the gentle
,reeze that makes the gray-haired
eteran feel that the years have fallen
rom him as a garment, and makes
be barefoot boy forget for the time'
lis infancy and causes him for the
noment to imagine himself man?
II is not, surely, simply the fact
hat from thirteen little colonies, we
ave grown to forty-six great and
7ealthy states; it is not that from a
arrow strip along the barren shores
the rumbliDg, storm-tossed Atlantic,
,e have stretched our borders to the
mellow song Of the placid Pacific it Is
.ot that we have defied the waters OF
he great deep and have set up our
tandard in the Islands Of the Sea ;
is not from a population OF three
billions We have grown so great that
ow we number nearly an hundred
,lllIon loving and loyal citizens.