Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-05-30

lived long lives. Out Of their battles
and the well-fought fields came the
Republic as it is today, strong and
noble, and they have seen it and know
that it is good. We come in from an
air that is permeated with disloyalty,
gated doubts and we see these silent,
unr owed old men. the faithful. They
are not questioning why. 1t Is enough
that the Republic has been insulted
and assailed. That is, when we come
to think of II, enough for all Of Us.
Out Of the wars that have been
fought on our own soil we have ere
ated a Republic. Washington. Ln-
coin and Davis; Grant and Lee, the
thousands in blue-and-buff, in blue.
and in gray, wrought a Republic out
Of the raw, chaotic ideas Of freedom,
Drawing foreign powers and daring a
struggle at home in order that the
best might result, and the Republic
still stands-the best the world has
yet known. It is good enough for the
old men in blue and the old men in
gray; it Is enough for them that 1t
has been scorned and insulted by a
blood-thirsty imperial Germany!
That is enough for me, too. I need
no tracts for or against B~olshevisnl,
essays on Serbia. no long-winded
prog tHAtIOnS OIL LHlS .OT Ildli NY
:coufefy !. the United States Of America.
the Republic. has been slapped IN the
face by German hands: the Republic
has been insulted! That suflces.
The aged men in blue ana gray re-
mind US that there is still a Republic,
q fact we are too prone to forget.
They file in slowly, some Of them
leaning on canes, ana take their seats,
and put their hats across their knees.
They look out upon the audience with
eyes that are dim; they stand when
the Star Spangled Banner Is sung, and
then Sink into their seats again, silent
speeches ana rather wonder what It is
all about, I imagine. Why should this
shout SO loudly that we must be-
ware of this or that? What has that
got to do with it? The Republic has
declared war and the war must be
won though it cost the last life and
the last dollar. That is what the old
men think, 1 imagine. They fought;
they offered their lives-what is all
this pother about? Have the Ger
mansa already annexed the country, or
public? Well, then, there are but two
things to do-hght and yin!
In their. old age they sit there, the
veterans in blue and gray, and they
are rather helpless. They are old and
they are feeble; they cannot fight, few
OF. them can q much az work; they
look out with dim eyes, not quite un-
Outstanding, but with faith, that we
will do what they are no longer able
to do. In q few days they will slip
away and no longer be, and in these
last hours they loosen Their fingers and
let slip into u hands, for safety or
for loss, to be preserved or dishonored,
the flag Of the Republic.
And we? We dispute and complain
and whine and falter-But, bark!
What sound is that? The old men in
blue and gray rise inc salute with
trembling hands. Their old eyes fill
with tears. They stand and listen to
the tramp, tramp! tramp! of many
feet. There are still men to carry the
flag of the Republic, for gu Of the
hands Of the mon in blue and the men
In gray the nag has passed to the
hands Of the boys In khaki. and we
see them marching by-thouSAnds,
and tens OF t~housandB, and hundreds
Of thousands-the defenders Of the
Republic: no North, no South, no
East, 40 West, but the Republic, One
and 1ndivisible. Now and Forever!