Elmore County Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1910-1915, 1913-06-07
HONOR THE NATIONS He RoES
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augural address Of 1861 saw with q
prophetic vision when he delivered
these stirring words. "The mystic
chords OF memory, stretching from
every battlefield and patriot grave
to every living heart and hearthstone
all over this broad land, will yet
swell the chorus Of the Union, when
again touched as surely they will be.
by the better angels of our nature"
And then again when he had deliv-
cred his famous address at Gettys-
burg, and a man standing near re-
marked "Posterity will never forget
the men who held those heights,
and he replied, Nor the men who
charged them"
The war with Spain proved the truth
OF his words and came nearer than
all other Influences to tearing down
the wall OF reserve and Of feeling
that had still fingered as the her.
itage Of the civil war. We do not
wonder that those engaged in the
war itself look and feel differently
than those who come after, for com.
ing as we do after the heat of the
discussion and after the danger is
over, after the heartburnings have
had time to cool, after the terrible
strain Of reconstruction has taken
place, II may seem easy to be philo-
sophical, but such is one of the laws
of nature, one can not keep a sore
on the body irritated and open and
expect that good blood and healthy
life will follow, and SO 1t is in the
body polite, If we keep the sore OF
sectional hatred alive and festered
with the Invitations of past wrongs,
either real or fancied, then disinte-
grafton will follow and the life of the
body polite will suffer. We can not
afford to have a north or a south, an
east or a west, we must have one
country, one flag, one nation. The
body does not perform it's highest
functions if one hand pulls in one d.
rectiQn and one another, II one foot
attempts to walk in one direction
and the >pther in another, and SO
again in the nations life, We must
work in unison if we expect the
best results, and. in no other man
ner can they be obtained.
This day is frought with memorie,
both sad and sweet and the very
fact that i is set aside as day to
be obser ny nation in hon0fing
its dead makes 1t holy day, and as
such there should be some lesson
gathered from its observance to help
US In our daily living, else 1t as all
other sacred days is lost. To sim
ply bow the head and strew few
flowers in obedience to the mandate
of some one in authority is not eithel
reverence or worship, but to feel the
thrill of days gone by, to feed anew
the fires Of admiration for the bray
cry and valorous deeds of those who
kept our country united, and to cool
the raging fever OF hatred for any
who differed with US, these are worthy
of day set aside as this is; to live
again in history and in song the
stirring scenes of days gone by; to
feel the throb of patriotism cause the
blood to start in greater leaps than
yesterday Is well worth taking q
day from business and from ordinary
cares and to give it to hOnorine
those whose days and years We're
given to US, and to whom We owe 9
greater debt than we can pay, fol
the heritage Of a united country and
free institutions.
: We would feel recreant to our duty
did we not pay debt Of tribute al
SO that we owe to another class o.
citizens who bore their part in thii
great struggle whose dead We are
honoring today, and that Is to the
women who remained at home ant
took up the hard bitter fight O
keeping the fires upon the hearth
stone burning and who waged eacl
day the terrible battle Of waiting
whose hearts were torn, not only wit
the same love Of country which sen
their husbands and sons to the front
ready to part with life If need be, to-
women had as deep and keen a sens
of loyalty to the nation as the men, bu
forced to remain at home and carr
for the children, and to earn, in mos
cases the very food they ate and tn
clothes which they wore, they learn
ed lessons which make Of that gen
Grafton OF women a different typ
than this generation, or than an!
generation under different conditions
can produce. 1t taught them pa
tience, q bravery, generosity, tina
we do not know. They carried witt
them daily heavy hearts, bowed spir
ital .s,roA .nnnnallad for the. aaka O