The Washington herald., 1917-06-06
WORLD DOES NOT LIVE ALONE ON MEMORIES,
PRESIDENT TELLS CONFEDERATE VETERANS

The Presidents speech TO the Con-
ieaerates At the Arcade Auditorium
esteem II a very great pleasure
ana real privilege TO extend to the
men VINO sre attending this reunion
ernment of the United SRtes.
suppose that as ysR mix with
one another you chiefly nd these to
pc Gays or memory when our thoughts
go pack and recall those day sof strug-
gle ~ which our hearts We're strained,
grapple. and daresay that YOU are
thrilled as you remember the heroic
things that were then done.
fou are glad TO remember that he
roioSthings were done on both sides,
apd that men in those days fought In
something like the old spirit of chival-
Thankfully bury Some Things.
There are many memories of the
civil wat that thrill along the blood
and make one proud to have been
sprung OF q race that could produce
such bravery and constancy: and yet
the world does not live on memories.
The world fs constantly making its
toilsome way forward into new ana
different days, and I believe that one
of the things that contribute satisfac-
tion to a reunion like this and a well
come like this IL that this Is also a
day Of oblivion.
"There are some things that we have
thankfully buried, ana among rnem
are the great passions OF division
which once threatened to rend this
nation In twain. The passion of ad-
miration we still entertain for the
heroic figures OF those old days, but
the passion Of separation. the passion
~ AffFarar0a ~ nrfnRiRla ta
out OF our minds, gone out of our
hearts; and one Of the things that win
thrill this country as II reads of this
reunion Is that It will read also of a
rededication on the part of all of us
to the great nation which We serve
in common.
THESE are days of oblivion as well
as of memory for we are forgetting
the things that once held US asunder.
Not only that, but they are days of
rejoicing, because we now at last see
why this great nation was kept
united. for we are besinning to see
the great world purpose which 1t
was meant to serve. Many men ]
known, particularly Of your own gen.
Grafton, have wondered at some Of the
dealings Of Providence, but the wise
heart never questions the dealings of
Providence, because the great long
plan as It unfolds has a majesty about
elevation of ideal. which we were
incapable Of conceiving as We tried
to work things out with our own
short sight and weak strength.
Same Passion for Freedom.
"And now that we see ourselves
part of q nation united, powerful,
great in spirit and In purpose, we
know the great ends which God in
his mysterious Providence wrought,
through our fnstrumentality, because
at the heart of the men of the North
and of the South there was the same
love of self-government and of
liberty, and now we are to be an In
stTument in the hands OF God to see
kind.
Eat the day Of our greatest division
there VISA one common passion amongst
us, and that. was the passion for
human freedom. We did not know
that God was working out In his own
way the method by which we should
best serve human freedom--by max
indivisible, fndestructible instrument
in His hands for the accomplishment
of these great things.
"As / came along the street q few
minutes ago, my heart was full OF the
thought that this is registration day.
Will you not support me in feeling
that there IL some significance in this
coincidence, that this day, when 1
come to welcome you to the National
Capital. Is q day when men young as
you were in those old days, when you
gathered together to fight. are now
registering their names as evidence
of this great idea, that IN a. de-
mocracy the duty to serve and the
privilege to serve falls upon all alike?