The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1915-10-21
PRESIDENT ADDRESSES VETEIt-
ANS


the New York World, dated Sept. %,
says: .a>
Five thousand G. A. r. veterans
gathered in Camp Emery tonight to
hear President Wilson address the
survivors of the civil war at their an
nual encampment In the middle OF
the address of the president there
was a commotion in the rear of the
hall between ushers and officers on
one side and old soldiers on the 9TH
er because the latter were not per-
mitted to occupy vacant seats in
front after they complained that they
were unable to hear the address.
For a time there was a shutting of
feet and moving of chairs. One man
in the middle of the hall shouted that
the veterans were leaving, but an
other, wearing the garb of the sur
vivors, arose in his chair and called
for three cheers for the president.
These were given with roar, and
quiet was restored.
President Wilson in his address
'said:
81 bid you a cordial welcome to
the capital of the nation; and yet
we feel that it is not necessary to bid
you welcome here because you know
that the welcome is always warm and
always waiting for you. One could
not stand in this presence without
many moving thoughts. 1t is a sin
.gular thing that men of single gen.
Grafton should have witnessed what
you have witnessed in the crowded
fifty years which you celebrate to-
night You took part when you were
a young man in the struggle the
meaning of which | dare say you
thought would not be revealed dur
ing your lifetime, and yet more has
happened in the making Of this ma
ton in your lifetime than has ever
happened in the making of any 9TH
er nation in the lifetime of a dozen
generations.
''The nation in which you now live
is not the nation for whose union you
fought. You have seen many things
which have made this nation one OF
the representative nations of the
world with regard to the modern
spirit of that world, and you have
the satisfaction which l dare say few
soldiers have ever had of looking
back upon a war absolutely unique
in this-that instead of destroying,
it healed; that instead of making a
permanent division it made perma-
nent union.
'You have seen something more
interesting than that, because there
is a sense in which the things of the
heart are more interesting than the
things of the mind This nation was
from the beginning spiritual enter
prise, and you have seen the spirits
of the two once divided sections of
this country absolutely united. A
war which seemed as if it had the
seed of every kind of bitterness in it
has seen single generation put bit
terness absolutely out of it's heart,
and you feel, as l am sure the men
who fought against you feel, that you
were comrades even then, though
you did not know it, and that now
you know that you are comrades in
a common love for country which
you are equally eager to serve.
"This is miracle of the spirit so
far as national history is concerned.
This is one of the very few wars in
which in one sense everybody engag
ed may take pride. Some wars are
to be regretted; some wars mar the
contrasted with those make these an
nails distinguished, show that the
spirit of man sometimes springs to
great enterprises that are even
greater than his own mind has con-
ceived.
$50 it seems to me that standing in
a presence like this no man, whether
he be in the public service or in the
ranks of private citizens merely, can
fail to feel the challenge to his own
heart, can fail to feel the challenge
to new conservation to the things
we all believe in. The thing that
sinks deeper in my heart as try to
realize the memories that must be
crowding upon you is this, you set
the nation free for that great career
of development, of unhampered de-
velopment, which the world has wit
messed since the civil war.
but for my own part would not
be proud of the extraordinary physi-
cal development of this country OF its
extraordinary development in mater
ial wealth and financial power, did !
not believer the people of the Unit
ed States wished all of this power de-
voted to ideal ends. There have
been other nations as rich as we;
there have been other nations as
powerful; there have been other ma
lions as spirited; but l hope we shall
never forget that we created this ma
ton, not to serve ourselves, but to
serve mankind.
II love this country because it is
my home, but every man loves his
home. 1t does not suffice that !
should be attached to it because it
contains the places and persons
whom love, because it contains the
threads of my own life. That does
not suffice for patriotic duty.
II should love it, and hope l do |
love it, as great instrument for the |
uplift of mankind, and what you
gentlemen have to remind us of as
you look back through lifetime to
the great war in which you took part /
in that you fought that this instru-
ment meant for the service of man
kind should not be impaired either
in it's material or in its spiritual pow
err.
81 hope may say without even an
of criticism upon any