The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-05-30

"What mean yo by these stones'"
Memorial day has intrudcd itself upon
us again ! speak carefully: | speak
adviscdly, when ] say 'intruded. il
/ had said Decoration day instead of
Memorial day | would have SAID some
thing like this; Decoration day has at
last put in its appearances: how long it
has been in coming, Decoration day
means flags and bunting and flowers
and music and dancing and races and
ball games and sports Of all kinds.
'Tis true It's pity; and pity tits
true Memorials are not always
happy remembrances. there is always
more or less Of sadness connected with
them, hence when they come they come
as an intrusion. One cannot look at
the three hundred thousand stones er-
ected over the graves of our soldier
boys without feeling sting, heart
pang, although the three hundred thou
sand graves and stones mean united
country and the shackles dropped from
900 900 slaves, and a prosperity such
as no other nation has ever known.
When / see that heap OF stones |
read in it the story of an awful trag-
edv. story written In tears, and suf-
fering, and sorrows, in laShingS and
groans, and centuries Of ignorance and
unreuuited toll In it ] read of broll.
| en- homes and the ruthless separation
| of husband and wife, parents and chill
| dren. ] read of sectional strife and bit.
| terness; of elimination and recrimiDa-
| ton; Of Misunderstanding and mis-
| Judgments; [ read Of hot-headcd ag-
! jtators and fanatical enthusiasts;
I read of these. too. where they have
resulted in bad blood and acts of vio-
lence and maliciousness; ] read until l.
| come TO where there is open rupture
which results IN the final awful trag-
cdv and three hundred thousand of
| our fathers, sons and brothers have
been made n sacrifice 10 hold this conn
! try Gone and lndivsiblc,' y and God
| only knows how many brave but mis-
| taken fathers sons and brothers offered
ND their lives for what they called
their own. These stones tell of neigh
Dor warning with neighbor; of brother
/ fighting against brother. They tell of
family hcarthstoncs being broken up;
| OF bitter partInCs: of wives made wld-
ows; of children made orphans; of the
| bookings in vain for the Homecoming of
! the loved ones, and of the thousand
other things which time will not, this
morning, permit me to enumerate. L
read of disappointments that make the
heart sick; of blighted hopes that
make the head run wild, Twas an
awful tragedy. but it had to be. The
stain that had been upon this nation s
cscutcheon had to be washed away and
nothing could cleanse that stain but the
blood of her sons. The sin of the ma
tlon must be wiped out, and without
tho shedding Of blood there is no re-
mission This is a part of the story
which | read in this pilo of stones.
And now I will turn to the other part
Of the story written here.
This story which / read in this pile
of three hundred thousand stones tells
not only of conflicts and hardships and
Sacrifices. the equal of any conflicts had;
OF any hardships endured; OF any sacri-
fees made in the struggles of nations
for supremacy or the maintenance Of
All existence, but this story written IN
stones tells of victory which startled
the world and called forth the admira
ton Of the nations of the earth; vic
tory that established for all time this
principle in government, that people
can attain to such a high state of in
tellgence, and to such exalted stand