Decorah-posten og ved arnen., 1918-08-13
MEMORIAL DAY IN NORWAY.

On the occasion of the American
Day the American minister,
Mr.. Schmedemann. the councillor of
the British legation Gin absence of the
minister through illness), the French
minister, Mr.. Chevalley. the Italian
minister, Mr.. Montague, the whole
American legation and consular staff,
a large number OF Americans and
Norwegians land possibly German
spies) assembled in Frogner around
the Lincoln memorial presented to
the city of Christiania in 1914 by the
state of North Dakota. The main
was DR.. Z. Onsum, who spoke
as follows:
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Mr.. Minister:
This day - Memorial Day or De-
Day - is celebrated wher-
eve good loyal Americans live in
memory of those who in the great
war responded to the call of the ma
tons leader and gave their lives that
their nation might live"
This day, all Americans, young and
old, for a while stop their march for
wards, lay off their work, o
their heads. and with thankful graft
tude remember those brave men who
struggled and fell on the field OF
honor. And we say to-day. like the
great president Abraham Lincoln said
hfty-fve years ago., the world never
can forget what they did," and those
dead shall not have died in vain"
We also pay our sincere respect
to that steadily dwindling host of
veterans who shared the burdens of
the wars hardships, when they fought
for the principles of the Constitution,
and who later have had the luck to
live and the satisfaction to see how
the millions of Americans, their
children and grandchildren, and all
the foreigners who came from over
the seas, from every corner of the
world to the land of freedom and
democracy - how these now can live
happily under the Stars and Stripes,
and enjoy the results OF what these
brave veterans once fought for.
Among those heroes from the battle
fields in the Civil War and among the
veterans to-day hailed all over the
States we count thousands of Nor
wegians, who once came as strangers
but were received with the same
generous hospitality. with the same
open hand Uncle Sam" extends to
free men willing to build the land,
pledging their loyalty to the Con-
stitution, the laws and principles of
American democracy.
They were received as brethren,
given the freedom of the land, as her
own sons enjoying the rights granted
by the Constitution, and given every
opportunity to found prosperous
homes on American soil. Although
they never forgot the old Mother back
over the ocean, and still love her with
children's devotion to their parents,
they very soon became good Ameri-
cans, feeling like Americans, loyal to
American institutions and filled with
the American spirit of independence.
1t is with a great deal of pride we
Norwegians remember the way they
showed their loyalty and gratitude to
their adopted fatherland.
When the call came, they responded
as readily as any American. They
stood shoulder t shoulder with their
American brethren. covered the battle
fields with their blood, fell and were
buried with them as brethren also in
death.
To-day we Norwegians join the
Americans paying our respect to these
brave men, remembering what they
offered, and what they suffered, and
thanking them for their willingness
to give life and blood for the sake of
right and justice.
-Four years ago, when Norway cele-
brated the centennial of her Con-
Styt,ttnp - q Cn,H.A. =. -
ways inspired by the American Con
stitution of l776, and in its principles
so similar to this - the state OF North
Dakota, through her Governor, Mr..
Hanna. presented to this City this
splendid bust of President Abraham
Lincoln, the man who, more than any
other man inAmerica's history of the
past looms as the most splendid type
of an American, a man of the highest
ideals, of uncorruptible honesty, an
upright character, a gentle nature
comprehending the worth Of men: the
mar who came from the people, lived
with the people, worked for the
people, and fell when victory was in
sight.
The generous donor ,of this me-
mortal wanted it to stay here among
us as a token of the ideals every
American, and every mar able to
think by himself, values the most:
Gods equal right to every mar on
earth, Gods equal right to every ma
ton to live its life in peace, and no
body's right selfishly to intrude upon
others or wrong others.
Those who were present on the
Fouth of July, 1914. when this me-
mortal was dedicated. will remember
the spirit and gratitude with which it
was received.
Again an American president, who
like Lincoln half a century G typi-
fes the American ideals of our DAYS,
has called the nation under the colors.
in defence of the freedom not only
of the States, but of the world as a
whole.
A great nation.again has, like Eng
land in 1914. thrown her sword into
the scale, not inspired by selfish gain
or interests but in order to maintain
the ideals for which Abraham Lincoln
and his compatriots lived and diei.
the ideals later upheld by the Ameri-
can nation, that nations, and men as
well, have equal rights, that govern
ment OF the people, by the people, for
the people shall not perish from the
earth"
President Woodrow Wilson states his
aim ito vindicate the principles of
peace and justice in the life of the
world as against selfish autocratic
power, and to set up amongst the