The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-05-31

contradictory sentiment, north as
well as south, firmly held that he
had taken solemn oath before God
to preserve and defend the union -
The Insidious Peril.
There is no more insidious peril
today than our debasement of the
conception of progress. What fright
full waste of nervous energy and life
in our going to and fro, or round
cage! Something big, something
grand must be done, something that
will attract the attention of the
! newspapers. This straining for pub
licity makes an unnatural demand
that something be doin',' and that
something must be new And this
| in turn leads to superficial and
artificial working up new features
| for the passing moment. We must
get up something big and grand,
| invite the reporters and the man
with the camera, and take a flash
| light To be sure, the whole thing
will disappear with all it's results
| for good with the smoke of the
fiashlight, but we will get at some
thing new tomorrow. SO we nag and
prod our public servants.
another advantage of dwelling
awhile amid the sublimities of the
past is that it would teach us sim
plicity and modesty. The greatest
warriors produced by the Civil war
or rather those who arose by merit
to the highest command, were men
of great modesty'
The Modesty of Grant.
Rev. Paden took General Grant as
an example, and showed how, even
at the supreme moment of his LIE,
and after he had won so many vic
tories in the west, he was very mod
est and simple, SO simple in TACT,
that when President Lincoln re-
ceived his letter telling of his vic
tories, the president said: The man
who can write like that is tit to
command in the west Yet with all
his victories and achievements, ne
regretted that he had ever taken
up military service.
"Memories of the past are neces
sary to give us a true insight lnto
the problems of the present. To
feel the days before me, l must
revere the purpose which throbs be-
hind me-" he said Lincoln was
practical politician. But the prac'
ticaI never degenerated into the SUI
perficial He never divorced the
practical from the sublime. His flne
| ly sensitive reference for the past
gave him prophetic vision for the
| future.
The New Problems.
| New problems demand solution
in our day. The strain produced
by old laws or customs and new
! conditions results of the formulated
wisdom of other days to present
needs, demands prophetic insight
We are confronted with just needs
demanding great and enthusiastic ac
| tiou. At such time our statesmen
il we may Judge by their political
oratory, are living in a pumpkin
| shell. They need to study the pres
| ent situation in it's historical per.
spective They need to move out
beneath larger domes. Even Chris
I had to view the cross he was TO
bear, in it's historical perspective
When he had talked with Moses and
Elijah, he was ready for the pres
ent duty Could our president and
ex-president make a pilgrimage TO
gether to some lonely Mount OF
TRANSPORTATION, where in conference
with the Eternal, they might be rid
of all selfih ambition, could they bu,
live amid the sublimities OF the
PAST, they might acquire that pos
ture of finely sensitive ,reveremc'
and calm, stately dignity BETTING
men facing the grave responsibilities
of our government today.
eve are told that men love
fighter. But it is sign of moral de
generacy when men can enjoy OIL
applaud the coarse, vulgar and bru
tai attacks inspired by envy and
selfish ambition. The time has come
when men of sober sense and Judg
ment who are free from political
ambition. must take the stump and
at every crossroads and school
house, discuss with gravity and earn
estness. the weighty problems that
confront us. The prophet has no.
yet arisen to lead us in this cam
paign for truth.
"These memories you have be-
uueathed us, bring responsibility. we
must enter into the struggles of the
| past i'm order to rightly estimate the
awful cost of our .heritaSe-four Dill
lion dollars. million men. But thai
does not tell it. What awful days
and nights of anxiety at home, the
awful forebodings of wives and chill
dren, the terror that lurked in the
darkness. the sudden shock WI
news came from the battlefield, thi
tears of widows and mothers, sisters
and sweethearts 1t is for us tC
highly resolve that these dead shall
not have died in vain. Take oh
thy feet, for the ground whereor
thou standest is hallowed ground.
Anniversary of the War.
From 1911 to 1915, we are cele
brating the semi-centennial of the
greatest war fought on this or any
other continent. 1t is a great thing
to have veterans of the G. A. X
celebrate the fiftieth anniversary OF
those great days. During those five
years. bothers of the Grand Army
and sisters of the Relief corps, you
lived longer than most of us vii
live in lifetime You have had
battles yet to fight, you are fghtlne
| them now. 1t is hard battle tc
grow old, to drop more and more
from activities of life. BY Gods
| grace Won will win also in the last