Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1914-06-02

men: We are assembled here today
to commemorate the patriotism and
valor of the brave men who died tC
save the Union. We come here from
all sections of the county; people OF
all religious and political faiths meet
here; personal enmities and sectional
strifes have been discarded; and with
but Il common purpose Ill view, with
one united thought, we meet again to
pay our tribute to the memory of
those who sacrificed their lives upon
the altar of freedom; those who
fought, bled. and died "that the gov
ernment of the people, by the people,
and for the people, shall not perish
from the earth. We come with
flowers to strew upon the graves Of
those heroes who have gone on be-
fore; we come with kind words of
gratitude for those who still remain
with us and are able to hear us.
We come here with patriotism filling
our hearts, with sacred and tender
memories foremost in our minds, and
with words of thankfulness upon our
lips. What can man say that would
or could do justice to this occasion.
The English vocabulary is inadequate
to correctly describe all that we owe
to those men who offered their lives
that the Union, born in sea of blood
shed and reared in patriotism, should
remain intact.
ObservanceeUniversal.
Memorial day is legal holiday
in nearly every state in the Union,
though in some states other days than
May 3Oth are observed. Today, in
nearly every city, town, village, and
hamlet in the United States, as well
as in our insular possessions, Ameri-
can citizenhip is congregating with a
common thought; the troublous prob
lens of the present, the uncertain
events of the future, have all been
forgotten for the time being, and we
live again in the tender memories of
a glorious past. In this country Dec
oration day is set aside principally
out of respect to the memory of the
achievements of those who participat-
ed in the Civil war The observance
of such day is not a new thing, nor
is it original with us. For centuries,
many of the foreign countries have
observed certain days each year for
memorial purposes. In this country,
the observance of Memorial day origi-
mates from the beautiful and inspiring
example set by the women of Colum-
bus, Mississippi, who soon after the
close of the war, set day aside for
the strewing of flowers upon the
graves of the Confederate dead, and
while bedecking the graves of their
own warriors with wreaths of flow
ers, they likewise adorned the graves
of the many thousands Of unknown
union dead who were sleeping their
last sleep beneath Southern skies. This
simple act of love and respect on the
part of these noble women of the
great South caused a feeling of love
and sympathy to spread throughout ,
the North, and in 1868, General Lo-
gan ordered that May 30th, 1868, be
set aside as a day for strewing flow
ers upon the graves of those who died
in the defense of their country. The
idea spread rapidly. Legislature af-
ter legislature took the matter up,
and as result, we have Memorial
day each year.
On April II, 1865, at Appomattox,
after more than four years of the
bloodiest warfare in all history, the
defeated and ragged remnants of the
South S once brilliant army, crushed
In spirit, and forced at last to real
ize the inevitable, surrendered to Gen
eral Grant. The war was over. At
the point of the bayonet, by the sac
rifce of many thousands of lives, and ,
in sea of blood, the Union was pre- T,
served. Right had prevailed. Free
dom again reigned in this glorious re- ,
public. Slavery, the indirect cause {
of this darkest page in American his
tory, had been crushed forever. The ,
principle that in this country of. ours, !
there is no North, no South, No East, :
nor West, had finally been established, :
and by a court of last resort; a {
court from which there was and is =.
no appeal. |
Cause One of Humanity.
Brave men and true wore those who
left their homes and loved ones to 20
forth to battle in the cause of hui
to 90 forth and fight for the t
principles of unity, of government. for a
lag, and for country; to take up arms e
10 perpetuate that democracy which Q
heir ore-fatherS had fought for so $
raliantly at Yorktown. They went o
forth to fight an enemy worthy of "
heir mettle. American went to fight b
American; brother to fight brother; "
'ather to fight son. They went forth :.
q fight an enemy who was as firm a
n his convictions as were they. Their s.
ountry came first with them. Pat I
iotic; ready TO dare and risk all, p
hat future generations might live to 81
nioy the wonderful heritage of a le
rec and united country. these men of b
he North went smihngly into the o.
onfiict, offering and shedding their I
lood in the cause of right. Selfish {,
ess played no part in their makeup. I
ear had no place i'm their ranks. al