The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1917-06-08
WILSON'S ADDRESS TO
CONFEDERATE VETERANS

The president spoke in part rs foi-
lows:
II suppose that as you mix with
one another you chiefly dnd these to
be davs of memory. You are
glad to remember that heroic things
were done on both sides, and that
men Yin those days fought in some
thing like the old spirit Of clivalric
gallantry. There are manv memories
of the Civil War that thrill along the
blood and make one proud to have
been sprung of a race that could pro-
duce such bravery and con5tancy;
and yet the world does not live on
memories. There are some
things that we have thankfully buried
and among them are the great pas
sions of division which once threat
ened to rend this nation in twain. The
passion of admiration we still enter
tain for the heroic figures Of those
old days. but the passion of separation
the passion of difference Of principle
is gone-gone out Of our minds. gone
out of our hearts; and one Of the things
that will thrill this country as it reads
of this reunion is that it will read
also of a rededication on the part or
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 unit
ed, for we are beginning to see the
great world purpose which it was
meant to serve Many men l know,
particularly Of your own generation
have wondered at some Of the dealings
Of Providence. but the wise heart
never questions the dealings Of ProTi-
dence. And now that we see
ourselves part of a nation united :.
we know the great ends which God.
in his mysterious Providence, wrought
throughout instrumentality, because
at the heart of the men of the North
and of the South there was the same
love of self government and of hber-
ty. and now we are to be an 1nstru-
ment in the hands Of God to see that
liberty is made secure for man
kind.
CAS- came along the streets few
minutes ago, my heart was full of the
thought that this is registration day.
Will you not support me in feeling
that there is some significance in this
coincidence, that this day, when I
come to welcome you to the national
capital. is 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 demo-
cracy, the duty to serve and the priv
ilege to serve falls upon all alike?
There is something very fine, my fel-
low citizens. in the spirit Of the vol
unteer, but deeper than the volunteer
spirit is the spirit of obligation. There
is not man of us who must not hold
himself ready to be summoned to the
duty of supporting the great govern
ment under which we live. No really
thoughtful and patriotic man is jeal-
Gus of that obligation. No man who
really understands the privilege and
the dignity of being an American citi-
zen quarrels for moment with the
idea that the congress of the United
States has the right to call upon whom
it will to serve the nation. Those
solemn lines of young men going to-
day all over the union to the places
of registration ought to be signal
to the world, to those who dare fiout
+ro 5io,;t1- ond honor and rights of
the United States, that all her man
hood will flock to that standard un-
der which we ali delight to serve, and
: that he who challenges the rights and
! principles of the united States chal-
lenges the united strength and devo-
ton of a nation
"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 laid
at the basis of our life all the time,
and we know the power and devotion
which can be spent in heroic wise for
the service of those ideals that we
have treasured
"And so it seems to me that We
may regard this as very happy day,
because a day Of reunion, day OF
noble memories, day of dedication,
day of the renewal of the spirit
which has made America great among
the peoples of the world