Norwich bulletin., 1915-09-29
FORMAL OPENING
 OF c. A. R. ENcAmPmENT
(centinusd from Page ons)

N~S"htuA@o fFofn F@sS Onel
 solIdly behind the administration's conduct of the present-day foreign problems and that their sons would | support him in any steps he might
 Interrupted by Applause.
 Applause frequently interrupted the | president as he spoke to the veterans. | their families and friends He. did l not touch directly upon the European | 1t. but devoted his address to the mission of the United States and the lessons taught by the Civil war. He spoke of the Civil war as one. of the fe win history of which both sides
 At one point the noise in the hall made by late arrivals and resulting difficulty in controlling the crowd forced the president to stop speak ing for nearly ten minutes while the chairman restored order.
 The presidents address. in part. fol- lows:
 Tt Is a singular. thing that men of a single generation should have wit messed what you have witnessed in the crowded fifty years which you you were young men fin a struggle the meaning of which I dare say. you thought would not be revealed dur ing your lifetime and yet more has
  ton in your lifetime than has ever happened In the making of any other nation in the lifetime of a dozen gem erations.
 'HThe nation fin 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 satis- faction which I dare say few soldiers | have ever bad, of looking back upon a war absolutely unique In this. that instead of destroying. 1t has healed. | that instead of making permanent di- vision 1t made a permanent union. This nation was from the beginning a spiritual enterprise and you have seen the spirits of the two once divided l sections of this country absolutely united A war which seemed as if it had the seed of every kind of bit- terness in 1t has seen a single gen. | eration put bitterness absolutely out of its heart and you feel. as am sure the men who fought against you feel. Il that you were comrades even then | though you did not know it and that il now you. know that you are comrades In a common love for country which you are equally eager to serve
 This Is a 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 engaged | may take pride. Some wars are to be regretted: some wars mar the annals of history: but some wars contracted with those make those annals dis tinguished show that the spirit of man sometimes springs to great enter prises that are even greater than his own mind had conceived
 You set the nation free for that great career of development. of un- hampered development which the world has witnessed since the Civh war. But for my own part I would not be proud of the extraordinary physical development of this country l of its extraordinary development in material wealth and financial power did not believe that the people of the United States wished all of thil power devoted to ideal ends. There have been other nations as rich as we; nations as spirited: but hope wa shall never forget that we created this nation. not to serve ourselves. but tc serve mankind
 T hope I may say without even ar implication of criticism upon my oth- CT great people in the world thas il has always seemed to me that tho people of the United States wished tc be regarded as devoted to the promo ton of particular principles of hu. man rights. The United States wer' founded not to provide free homes. bu to assert human rights. This fal meant . great enterprise of the human spirit. Nobody, no bodies of men. ir . the time that flag was first set. be