The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1909-06-03
TAFT SPEAKS FOR
BLUE AND GRAY
THE PRESIDENT DELIVERS AN
IMPRESSIVE ADDRESS AT Pc
TERSBURG BATTLEFIELD.

! the North and of the South, President
! Taft today witnessed the unwilling Of
| q heroic statue in bronze erected at
Fort Malone, on the Petersburg bat
tlefield, in memory of General Hart
ranft and the Pennsylvania volunteers
who fell in the stubborn fighting about
this outpost of the Confederate capt.
tai. The President coupled with ev-
cry tribute to the Union soldiers d
eulogy of the valor of the Confeder-
ates.
1--WE could not dedicate this beauti-
! full and enduring memorial he de-
clared, ''to the volunteer soldiers OF
! Pennsylvania with such a sense of
justice and appropriateness had they
not been confronted by an enemy ca
pable of resisting their assaults with
equal vigor and fortitude. Pennsyl-
vanias pride must be in the victory
achieved by her men against so brave,
resolute and resourceful an enemy"
The Presidents visit to Petersburg,
once the "citadel of the Contender
acy," has had the city a-futter for
more than month, and the plans for
his entertainment surpassed anything
of the sort before undertaken here.
In addition to the President many
other distinguished visitors partici-
pated in the days events. Governor
Stuart of Pennsylvania. Governor
Swanson of Virginia, members of the
Battlefield Commission of Pennsylva-
MIA, large delegations from Grand
Army posts and host of Confeder-
ate veterans have gathered, while at
the luncheon this afternoon the
speakers will include, in addition to
the President and the two Governors,
M. Jusserand, the French Embassa
dor; Rear-Admiral Sigsbee, United
States Navy (retired), and President
b. A. Alderman of the University of
Virginia.
Upon his arrival shortly after 9
O'Clock the President was driven at
once to the old battlefields SO rich in
historic interest. He first witnessed at
Fort Stedman the unwilling of tab
let and from there the President and
his party were driven the mile and
half to Fort Malone, where the sta
tue has been constructed at a cost
of $4,000. Every inch of the way
traversed by the Chief Executive wit
messed bloody battles during the siege
of Petersburg. Old soldiers in blue
and gray stood side by side from Fort
Stedman to Fort Malone.
The Grafton was delivered by Ma
jor Isaac B. Brown, president of the
Pennsylvania Battlefields Commission.
Following this came the address of
President Taft, whose subject was
THE Union" Following his custom
since becoming President, Taft spoke
eXtemporaneously. At the conclusion
OF the Presidents address, Governor
Stuart of Pennsylvania turned the
monument over to the State of Vir-
ginia, the speech of acceptance being
delivered by Governor Swanson.
With the sounding of taps" the
ceremonies at the monument were
: concluded, and the President and 9TH
er distinguished visitors returned to
Petersburg as the guests of the city
for the remainder of the day.
President Taft said in part
MY fellow citizens, we are met to-
day on the soil of Virginia to dedi-
cate a memorial to the bravery of the
sons of Pennsylvania, exhibited in a
contest to the death with the sons OF
Virginia and the South. We stand here
in the center of the bloodiest anC
most critical operations of the last
year of the Civil War, only a few
miles distant from that dramatic scene
at AppomattoX between Grant anC
Lee, which marked the great quail
ties of the heart and soul of each and
which was the real end of the terri.
fc struggle between the two sections
ITO Pennsylvania, as one of the
great states of the Union engaged in
the determination to save it, fell tht
burden of furnishing tens of thous
ands of men for the struggle in ev'
especially in the Army of the Poto
& mac was the force of her people anC
their devotion to the cause felt.
"In the time which has passed. thu
President continued, the bitterness
of the inteTnecine struggle has pass
ed away and we now treasure as
common heritage of the country tn
bravery and the valor of both side
in that controversy. The army of tn
. Potomac under Grant and Meade wa
- seconded and supported by a gener
n GUS Government.
ut was hardly so with the Con
U federate forces. Scantily clothed rare
ly on more than one-half rations an
for considerable periods reduced t
an allowance of bacon and meal hard
ly sufficient to sustain life, the Ion
winter through, their shivering in
fantry manned the ever-extendin
siege works and made head agains
thA vipOrous assaults Of tha ITniO