Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1913-07-05
FIFTY YEARS
OF PEACE
PRESIDENT TALKS TO GETTYS-
BURG VETERANS ON THE LONG
PERIOD OF PEACE WHICH HAS
FOLLOWED THE WAR.
DEBTOR TO THOSE FIFTY
CROWDED YEARS. THEY HAVE
MADE rs HEIRS OF \, MIGHTY
HERITAGE"
ADDRESS.

FricHEs GRd FcIIoW L'ifi:fRS: | need
not tell You what the battle Of GettyS-
burg meant These gallant men in blue
and grey sit all about IL here. Many Of
7 them met here upon this ground in grim
and deadly struggle. Upon these famous
! fields and hillSideS their comrades died
about them. In their presence it were
an imper;cnence to discourse upon how
\ the battle went. how ii ended. what ii
/ Significd But 30 years have gone by since
I then and / crave the privilege If speak
ing to YOU for a few minutes of what
those 30 years have meant.
What hare they meant? They have
meant peace and union and vigour. ana
The maturity and might If Il great ma
ton. How wholesome and healing the
peace has bcen We have found one
another again as brothers and comrades
in arms. enemies no longer. generous
friends rather, our battles long past. the
quarrel forgotten-cXcept that we shall
ut forget the splendid valour, the manly
devotion Of the men then arrayed against
enc another. now graSping hands aud
smiling into each others eyes How com
plctc the union has become and how dear
to all Of Us. how unqucStiJned how he
nign and majestic. a. state after state
has been atdcd 10 this our great family
Of free men, How handsome the vigOur.
the maturity, the might of the great ma
ton we love with undivided hearts. how
full of large and confident promise that
4 life will be wrought out that will
crown its strength with gracious justice
and with happy welfare that Will
touch all alike with deep contcntment.
We are debtors to those 80 crowded
years: they have made us heirs to q
mighty heritage.
But do we deem the Nation complete
and finished? These venerable men
crow,iing here to this famous field have
set us a great example of devotion and
utter sacrifice. They were willing to die
that the people might live. But their
task il done. Their day il turned into
evening. They look 10 us to perfect what
they established. Their work il handed
OH to us. to be done in another way but
not in another spirit. Our day IL not
over; it is upon rs in full tide.
Have affairs paused? Does the Nation
stand sill? Is what the 30 years have
wrought since those days Of battle fin
ished. rounded out. and completed?
Here is a great people great with every
force that has ever beaten i'm the life
blood of mankind. And il is secure There
is no one within its borders there il no
power among The nations of the earth.
to make il afraid. But has it vet squared
itself with its own great standards set
up ut its birth, when ii made that first
noble. naive appeal to the moral juAg-
mcnt Of mankind To take notice that Il
government had now ut last been eStab-
liShed which was to serve men. not mas
terS? IT is secure in everything except
the satisfaction that its life is right adj
iuStcd to the uttermoSt 10 the standards
of righteousness and humanity. The DAYS
of sacrifice and cleansing are not clos
ed. We have harder things TO do than
were done i'll the heroic days Of war. br
cause harder t. see clearly. requiring
more vision. more calm balance Of
Judgment a more candid searching of
the very springs Of right.
Look around You upon the field of Get
;ysburg Picture the array. the fierce
heats and agony of battle, column hurled
against column. battery believing to
battery, Nalour? Yes! Greater no man
shall see in war; and selfSacritice. and
loss to the uttcrmoSt; the high reckless
ness of exalted devotion which does not
count the cost. We are made by these
tragic. epic things to know what il
costs TO make nation-thc blood and
sacrifice of mutitudeS of unknown men
lifted to great stature in the view of
all generations by knowing no limit ~
their manly willingness to serve. In ar
mics thus marshaled from the ranks Of
free men YOU Will see. as it were ma
ton embattlcd the leaders and the led
and may know. if YOU will how little
except in form its actions differs in days
of peace from its actions in days of war.
May we break camp now and be at
ease? Are the forces that fight for the
Nation Dispersed disbanded. gone To
their homes forgetful of the common
cause? Are our forces disorganized, with
out constituted leaders and the might
Of men consciously united because ",
contend. not with armies. but with prin
cipalities and powers and wickcdness il
high places. Are we content to lie still:
Does our union mean sympathy. oui
,,n,aa oontnntmnnt cur x-irn,,, riohf nn