Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-07-01


met in irrepressible conflict those who
honestly believed that the United States
was an indissoluble union Of otherwise
Independent states. Each side, with all
the earnestness of those whose hearts.
minds and cOnSciences are committed to
an IDEAL sought to mold the government
to its respective views. There was no
earthly tribunal before which this great
issue could be tried and determined. The
arbitrament of arms alone remained.
Was Waged by Pure-Spirited Men.
THE war that followed had no element
Of wantonness or ACKNOWLEDGMENT or lust
Of gain, and no men Of purer spirit ever
lived than those who waged it upon the
respective sides. 1t found the states In
its beginning, like loosely tied togeth-
er bundle of faggots and at it's end, and
when the wounds of 1t had been healed
it left great sturdy oak as the central
body of our union. with strong, sturdy
branches of intense vitality firmly at
tached to it. Hence. whatever ones
views may have been upon the righteous
ness Of the issue, wholesome respect to
those of each side must be rendered. Such
a gathering as this we have witnessed
today would not otherwise have been
possible
1T is through pain that we attain any
thing of value; it was through pain that
this nation found itself; and. upon the
great foundation thus secured and estab-
lished. proceeded to advance with giant
strides to the forefront of the nations of
the earth.
are by the deep spiritual meaning of this
impressive gathering. surely say that 1t
was worth 1t all; that those silent mar
tyrs lying forever enshrined upon this
field did not die In vain: that you who
at the front bore the storm and stress
of that great conflict, and. those who
waited in trembling anxiety at home and
bore the woe and agony of suspense and
uncertainty. did not suffer in vain? Can
we not truly say that. until this people
had withstoOd some such stress as this.
there was no assurance that this first
great experiment of the ability Of men
to govern themselves was surely sue
cessful? Shrink from the facts as we
Would we within, or those who stood
doubling without. ever have felt the as
surance which is now felt? Do we not
know that those whom the God Of Nations
hath Joined together. no man can put
under?
Last Memories Most Enduring.
your meeting has, and from the impor-
1t not good for you as individuals to be
here today? Your last memories of this
field will overlap the earlier ones. II
memories as a field of carnage and suf.
fering and woe, but a field Of smiling
faces and happy hearts and great joys
And SO the picture will go forth to the
the whole world will realize that not
only has government of the people, by
the people and for the people not per-
ished from the earth, but 1t will not ever
perish"
Gen. Young Discusses Pensions.
Gen. Bennett H. Young commander-in-
chief Of the United Confederate Veterans,
discussed the question Of government
pensions for the soldiers still alive who
fought under the Stars and Bars.
"It may be- he said. that the sug-
gestion lately put into form to give Con-
federate soldiers the same privileges in
national soldiers homes as federal SOL
diers may lead to the establishing Of this
right: or that peace in its demand for
the obliteration of all the bitterness of
the past may demand that the nation
shall pension surviving Confederates.
do not even suggest or in the name OF my
people say that it would be accepted. but
this republic is a great destroyer Of the
cherished ideals of the past, when they
stand in the way of completest justice.
For nearly fifty years the people of the
south, without complaint. have contrib
uted millions for the pensions of federal
soldiers A nations gratitude has been
meted out through enormous grants to
provide for the federal soldiers. their
wives and their children. No'murmur has
ever come from the men OF the Confed-
eracy at this vast outlay. and there are
some who predict that the hour may ar
rive in national life when the few and
infirm remaining men who fought under
the Confederate standards with admit.
ted unsurpassed courage, should have In