The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-06-01
TRIBUTE OF TAFT
TO DEPARTED BRAVE
President Is Principal Speaker
at dwelling of Monument
at Gettysburg.
EXECUTIVE EMPHATIC
IN EXPRESSING SENTIMENT
Nation Cannot Be Too Jealous in
Keeping Up Standard of
Our Army.

GETTYSBURG, Pa, May 31-This
was the day of tardy honor to the
Irregular at Gettysburg. An impos
ing shaft Of granite erected by con-
gross TO the memory Of those Of the
regular army who fell in the three days
battle, was unveiled by the president g
daughter, Miss Helen III. Taft, while
the president paid tribute 10 officers
and men of the United States army,
past and present.
The president put himself squarcly on
| record as opposed 10 any reduction IN
! the standing army. He told of the
| prejudice that often has arisen against
the possible aggrcssions Of regular
army and a professional Soldiery. and
of the corresponding difficulty in arous-
| ing that love and pride of the army
which expresses itself today, and has
| frequently expressed itself in the past
in behalf of the navy. The president
asserted that the services OF the regu-
| lar army have never been commemo:
rated adequately by congress or the
| nation.
High Praise for Army.
"The profession of arms always has
| been an honorable uuo,' he declared.
CAN honor TO the regular army Of the
| United States. Never III its history has
| ii had n stain ppon It's escutcheon.'
On the way to Gettysburg from Pitts
| burg, the president car was side
tracked at York for two hours, and
| during his stay he made brief address
in which he declared again his hope for
| the early enactment of tariff law, . II
the lord will only he good and send
| some real hot weather in June. -
-Four regiments of the regular army
| were here TO participate IN the cXer-
cises. There also was a personal cs
cort TO the president composed of vet
Grams of the regular army who fought
in the Gettysburg campaign.
The president arrived shortly before
10 O'Clock and was taken for a drive
over the battlefield. At several points
he alighted and stood on the promi-
nenccs overlooking the valley below
and the mountains in the far distance.
Returning to his private. car for
luncheon, he remained until the ar
rival Of his daughter from Washing
ton Miss Taft came with the secre-
tary Of war and Mrs. Dickinson. In
the party from the capital were also
many distinguished officers of the army.
Taft's Daughter Has Part
simple Miss Taft pulled the silken
cord that released the flags draped
about the monument aud in falling one
of the flags caught on a bronze eagle
! decorating one of the inscribed ia blcts.
A trooper gave the flag a tug, but it
could not be released until large hole
had been torn III the folds of the
| stripes.
The president spoke as follows:
Address of the President.
We are gathered at this historic spot
zI,.Dfn IN
memory of the officers and enlisted men
| of the regular army who gave up their
lives for their country in the three days
| battle. 1t is but. a tardy recognition OF
| the nations debt to its brave defenders.
whose allegiance was purely TO the ma
| ton. without local color or strcngt thening
of state or municipal pride.
The danger OF standing army, main
taincd by our ancestors, is seen in the
! constitutional restrictions and the com.
I plants registered in tho Declaration OF
| Independence II has always been easy
to awaken prejudice against the possible
| aggrcssions OF a regular arm! and pro-
fSssional soldiery' and correspondin,Gfy ,
difficult TO create among the people that
! love and pride In the army which we tlnd
today and frequently in The history OF
navy. This has led to a varied and
! changeabe policy in respect 10 the regu,
lar army. At times it has been reduced
to almost nothing In 1884 there were but
| eighty men who constituted the regular
army OF the United states, and of these,
| battery + Of the Fourth Artillery consti
| tutcd fifty-five OF them: but generally the
] absolute necessities I'm the defense OF tho
| country against the same wars which en-
| brace so large a part of our history have
induced tho maintenance OF regular
force. small TO he sure. but one so well
| trained and effective as TO always re-
| fleet credit upon the nation.
Debt to the Veterans.
To the little army of $4,000 men tina,
| survived the Civil war, We owe the
! opening up OF the entire western coun.
| Try. The hardships and the trials OF
! possible the construction OF the Pacit>c
railroads, have never been fully reoog,
nized by our people, and me bravery ana
courage and economy OF force. compared
| with the task performed by our regular
troops, have never been adequately COM
| menorated by the congress or the ma
war the. added responsibilities of our
new dependencies in the Philippines. For-
gethcr with a sense of the Importance of
our position as world power, have led
to tho increase in our regular army To
larger force than ever before. but not
larger I'm proportion To the increased
population and wealth than in the carly
years of the republic. II should not be
reduced.
Bearing Arms Honorable.
The profession OF arms has always
been an honorable one. Under condi-
tions OF modern warfare IL has become a
highly technical one. ana requires years
of experience and study to adapt the Of
ficcrs and mon to its requirements. The
general purpose Of congress and the
American people, If one can say there IL
plan or purpose, is 10 havo such nu-
clcus as "a regular armT that II may fur
nish skeleton for rapid enlargement In
Times OF war TO n force ten or twenty
timcs its size, and at tho same time he
an appropriate instrument for accom-
p!lshing the purpose OF the government in
crises likely To arise, other than war,
At West Point we have been able TO
prepare a body OF professional soldiers.
well trained To officer an army, and
numerous enough at the opening OF the
Civi war to give able commanders To !
both sides OF that internecinc strife.
on the side OF the north. many of the |
officers were drafted to command the |
volunteer troops from the states, While |
the regular army, numbering about 10000 |
Continued on Page -Four.