Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1913-07-10

had now at last been established
(which was to serve men, not masters?
1t is secure in everything except the
satisfaction that it's life is right, adj
justed to the uttermost to the stand
ards of righteousness and humanity.
The days of sacrifice and cleansing
are not closed. We have harder things
to do than were done in the heroic
days Of war, because harder to see
clearly, requiring more vision, more
calm balance of judgment, Il more can
did searching of the very springs of
right
Look around you upon the field of
Gettysburg! Picture the array. the
fierce heats and agony Of battle, col
umn hurled against column. battery
believing to battery! Nalor? Yes!
Greater no man shall see in war, and
self sacrifice and loss to the uttermost,
the high reckleSSneSs Of exalted de-
vOtion which does not count the cost.
We are made by these tragic, epic
things to know what it costs to make
n nation-the blood and sacrifice Of
multitudes of unknown men lifted to a
great stature in the view of all genera
tons by knowing no limit to Their
manly Willingness to serve. In armies
thus marshalel from the ranks of free
men you will see, as it were, nation
cmbattled, the leaders and the led
and may know, if you will, how little
except in form its action differs in
days of peace from it's action 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 com
mon cause? Are our forces disOrganiZ-
ed. without constituted leaders and the
might of men consciously united be-
cause we contend not with armies, but
with principalitieS and powers and
wickedness in high places? Are we
content to lie still? Does our union
mean sympathy, our peace content
ment our vigor right action. our ma
turity self comprehension and clear
confidence in choosing what we shall
do? War fitted us for action and ac-
ton never ceases.
l have been chosen the leader of the
nation. | cannot justify the choice by
any qualities of my own. but so it has
come about, and here l stand. Whom
do l command? The ghostly hosts
who fought upon these battletields long
ago and are gone? These gallant gen
tlemen stricken in years. whose fight
ing days are over. their glory won?
What are the orders for them, and
who rallies them? l have in my mind
another host, whom these set free of
civil strife in order that they might
work out in days of peace and settled
order the life of great nation. That
host is the people themselves, the great
and the small, without class or differ
ence OF kind or race or origin and I'M
divided in interest, if we have but the
vision to guide and direct them and
order their lives Alright in what we do.
Our constitutions are their articles of
enlistment. The orders of the day are
the laws upon our statute books. What
we strive for is their freedom, their
right to lift themselves from day to
day and behold the things they have
hoped for and so make way for still
better days for those whom they love
who are to come after them. The re
cruits are the little children crowding
in, The Quartermaster's stores are In
the mines and forests and fields. in the
shops and factories Every day some
thing must be done to push the cam
paign forward, and it must be done by
plan and with an eye to some great
destiny.
How shall we hold such thoughts in
our hearts and not be moved? | would
not have YOU live even today wholly in
the past. but would wish to stand with
you In the light that streams upon us
now out of that great day gone by.
Here is the nation God has builded by
our hands. What shall we do with 1t?
Who stands ready to act again and al
ways in the spirit of this day of re-
union and hope and patriotic fervor?
The day of our country's life has but
broadened into morning Do not put
uniforms by. Put the harness Of the
present on. Lift your eyes to the great
tracts of life yet to be conquered In
the interest of righteous peace, of that
prosperity which lies in peoples
hearts and outlasts all wars and err
rorS OF men. Come; let us be comrades
and soldiers yet to serve our fellow
men in quiet counsel where the blare
or trumpets is neither heard nor heed
ed and where the things are done
which make blessed the nations of the
world in peace and righteousness and
| love.