The Oakes times. [volume] (Oakes, N.D.) 1906-current, 1911-06-01
short, they were Americans. snd to
Americans war is an incident of life,

short, they were Americans. and to
Americans war is an incident of life,
not its object.
'sBut the height of patriotism was
not reached on the battlefield; it was
not reached in the dreary marches; nor
in the awful agony and despair
of the prison. 1t was reached
when that great body of men, grown
strong in their experience, conscious Of
the strength they held in their grasp,
turned when their task was completed
to take up again the broken thread of
civil life. Other nations have been
obliged to raise immense armies, and
critics, profting by their experience.
predicted the destruction of the Union
by the very army through which it was
saved. No one realized the immense
strength of the army until they saw it
in all the fullness of its power in that
last great parade. Not until then did
the American people realize the danger
that great victorious army may hold
for the country in which it exists.
And as that army of men moved regi-
ment by regiment through the streets
of Washington and the onlookers
became conscious of its pent up energy
and power, there may have been a
shadow of doubt, a trace of fear that
the prophecy might be fulfilled. But
all the fears and doubts vanished as
the men of that vast army impatiently
awaited their discharge and then has
tened to their homes leaving thoughts
of war forever behind. The disbanding
of the Northern army was an achieve
ment unexceIled by any of its victories
on the field.
'Time is an enemy none can stay,
bravely opposed to his charge counts
for naught, and the victors of '65, who
marched in that grand review at
Washington, in the strength and vigor
of manhood, their bodies now bent and
decrepit with the weight of years,
their heads fiecked with the silver light
of life's evening are passing from the
greater review of life vanquished at
last by the conqueror of the dead. :. I.
And as they leave the arena of public
life, their duties SO we'll performed,
will fall on other and younger shoul-
ders. If in the performance of those
duties we find the same motives and an
adherence to the same principles of
honor that change not with party issue,
we may hope that though they have
passed away, the spirit of their effort
still lives and directs ours. And let us
hope that ere the saddened notesof the
bugle have sounded the requiem of the
last soldier Of the Rebellion, the Amer
ican people will have. completed the
lesson so well taught by that grandest
of all armies, nay, they have learned
that although the question decided by
its power have been settled forever,
problems that may grow to equal pro-
portions are ever demanding attention;
that unwise legislation; the conflict
between the rich and the poor; the
bitterness of the party spirit. may rise
up and threaten even as they rose up
and threatened = aye, and even de.
stroyed-in the past. May the Amer.
ican people have become thoroughly
imbued with the knowledge that
Americas s safety lies not in arms, not
in her navy, not in the strength of he,
Notifications, but in the justice and
impartiality of her laws; in the adher-
ence to the principles under which she
rose to fame and power, and in the
peaceful relations with all nations. :. .
The applause that greeted the
speaker at the close was spontaneous
and hearty. The address was pro
nounced excellent.
j. N. Chamberlin then sang an ap
propriate solo and responded happily
to the encore. The program closed b,
Mrs. Ryder singing in her usual sweet
vein "The Star Spangled Banner"