The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1917-06-06
Veterans Are Thrilled
by the President
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out in His own way the method by |
which we should best serve human |
freedom-by making this nation a |
great united, indivisible, indestructible |
instrument in His hands for the ac-
complishment of these great things.
''As l came along the streets a few
minutes ago, my heart was full of
the thought that this was registration |
day viii you not support me in the |
feeling that there is some signifi- |
canoe in this coincidence, that this !
day, when I come to welcome you to
the national capital is a day when
men as young as you were IN those
old days, when you gathered togeth- |
er to fight, are now registering their
names as evidence of this great idea,
that in a democracy the duty to serve
and the privilege to serve falls upon
all alike? There is something very
fine, my fellow citizens, in the spirit
of the volunteer, but deeper than the
volunteer spirit is the spirit of obi
cation. There is not a man of us
who must not hold himself ready to
be summoned to the duty of support
ing the great government under which
we live. No really thoughtful and
patriotic man is jealous of that obi
cation. No man who really under
stands the privilege and the dignity OF
being an American citizen Q1arrels
for a moment with the idea that the
/ congress of the United States has a
right to call upon whom 1T will to
serve the nation. These solemn lines
Of young men going today all over
the union to the places of regJstra-
/ ton ought to be a signal to the
world, to those who dare fl0ut the
/ dignity and honor and rights Of the
United States, that all hef manhood
| will flock to that standard undeT
which we all delight to serve and that
! he who challenges the rights and
| principles of the United States chal-
/ lenCes the united strength and devO-
ton of a nation.
"There are not many things that
/ one desires about war, my fellow cltl-
! zens, but you have come through war,
| you know how you have been ChaSten-
! ed by it, and there comes a time
| when it is good for a nation to know
! that it must sacrifice if need be, ev-
| erything that it has to vindicate the
| principles which it processes. We
! have prOspered with a sort of heed
! less and irresponsible prosperity.
| Now We are going to lay all our
! wealth, if necessary, and spend all
our blood, if need be, to show that we
were not accommodating that wealth
! selfishly, but were accommodating it
for the service of mankind. Men all
! over the world have thought Of the
! United States as a trading and
money-getting people, whereas we
who have lived at home know the
ideals with which the hearts Of this
people have thrilled; we know the
sober convictions which have lain at
the basis of our life all the time, and
! we know the power and devotion
which can be spent in heroic ways for
service of those ideals that we have
treasured We have been allowed to
become strong in the providence Of
God that our strength might be used
to prove, not our seIfishness, but our
| greatness, and il there is any ground
for thankfulness in q day like this,
I am thankful for the privilege Of
self-sacrifice which is the only prlvl-
lege that lends dignity to the human
spirit
"And so it seems to me that we may
regard this as a very happy dav. be
cause a. day of reunion, day of noble
memories, a day of dedication, a day
of the renewal of the spirit which
has made America great among the
peoples of the world"
Gen. HarrisOn's Response,
In responding to the addresses of
welcome. General George ?, Harrison,
commander-in-chief of the veterans,
declared that the obljteration Of all
sectional lines was shown by the well
come to the Confederate from the
men who wore the blue.
~ point with pride and pleasure to
the welcome which has been extended
to us here today" General Harrison
said.
Signs that sectional differences
were ended were given, General Har-
rison said, when President Mckinley
wore a Confederate button and car
ried d miniature flag presented tc
him by southern girls and when Pres
ident Roosevelt permitted the resto-
ration of Jefferson Davis name to its
place on Cabin John bridge. The an.
pointment of Chief Justice White, q
former Confederate soldier, by Pres
ident Taft and the meeting Of thC