The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1919-06-06


! feet union, establish justice. insure
domestic tranquility, proviGe for. the
common defense, promote the gen.
eral welfare, and secure the bless
| ings of liberty to ourselves and our
postertity, do ordain and establish
this Constitution for the United
States of America"
What a glorious preamble-Lber-
| ty and Union. now and forever, one
and >inseparable-and 1--WE the peo-
ple," ruling ourselves, a perfect ex-
ample of self government. 1--WE the
people," cemented together into one
sacred band or society of friendly
patriots, working tremendously for
personal and religious liberty, for
right of private judgment, for right
of public utterances' for the welfare
of the whole nation.
This was the Union that Lincoln
and you Civil War Veterans fought
for. This was the Union your brave
comrades died to save. You were
known as Union soldiers then, and
you are known as Union soldiers
now. Slavery was only an incident.
The Union. was everything. Abraham
Lincoln, when he took his oath of
office, with uplifted hand, pledged
This sacred honor to support the Con-
Stitution and preserve the, United
States, and later wrote,
"If | could save the Union, though
/ did not free a slave, / would do it,.
Still in my own heart it is my wish
that all men in all lands should be
free"
AS commandment in chief of the
army of the United States, as war
measure, he freed the slaves within
the confederate lines, and ere long
black men took their places with
the Union troops and proved good
and brave.
The north was populated, to a
great extent, by the sturdy, industri-
Gus, religious descendants of the
| Pilgrims, while in the South there
| were numerous aristocrats who had
| lost their fortunes in European
countries and hoped to regain them
in the lazy enervating climate of the
sunny South. by the sweat of other
mems brows. Many in the South sin
cerely and conscientiously favored
slavery. Others cared not for what
was right or wrong, as long as they
! profiteered by the system. The de-
| scendants Of the Pilgrim Fathers in
the North, were dominated by a
keener sense of justice Their Bible
taught them that God "hath made
of one blood all nations of men for
| to dwell on all the face of the
EARTH" While, today, We principally
decorate the graves and keep green
the memories of the Civil War Vet
arans, let us also honor the Pilgrim
Fathers, with their open Bibles, who
rocked Liberty in it's Mayfiower
cradle, on the billow deeps, as they
| fed from their religious oppressors.
| The righteous principles of the May
| flower covenant, signed on Novem-
Der 18th, 1920, when outside op-
preston had been left behind, form
the mighty bands that hold secure
| the armistice signed on November
18th, 1918, when the oppressive world
war had ceased. The first furrow
drawn by a Pilgrims pillow in the
thin soil of Plymouth was truly the
| first line in the Declaration of In
dependence The influence of the
Pilgrim Fathers can never-never
die. 1t enthused the American SOL
diers in the Revolution and in the
Civil War. 1t infused courage and
determination into little Belgium to
oppose the hellish hosts of Germany,
| who were trampling under foot the
fertile fields of Belgium and trailing
| in the dust the last vestige of Ger
man honor-to hold back the mad
dening onslaught of Hunnish hordes,
till others came to the rescue.
The flaming love of liberty turned
the sons of France into a veritable
burning breastwork, beyond which
the Prussian hyenas should mot
pass" They protected Paris and
saved civilization.
Its love of union and justice made
EnglandS integrity like adamant No
briEe made in Germany" could pur-
chase her honor. She preferred death
in the defense OF little Belgium to
'dishonor She preferred to have her
| cities demolished with those of
France rather than go back on her
word. Would England close her eyes
to the slaughter of nations and her
ears to the groans of humanity No.
The great English fleet, bottled up
the German navy in the harbor of
Helgoland, and held it there, through
out, with English bull -dogism. It's
daring Tommies went over the top
by the tens of thousands, with smiles
on their faces, love of fair play in
their hearts, and songs on their
lips.
The peaceful Canadians at our
northern border, where there is no
border, or not even furrow to mark
it, and no need of one, became at
once on fire with Divine indignation,
and hurled their forces with unpre-
cedented speed over the briny pond
to end the bloody atrocities and
save the day for humanity and COM
mon decency.
| How any man, acknowledging a
just God and laying claim to any
sort of conscience or human feel
Eings, could openly remain neutral in
the recent brutal world war is be-
yond fathoming. Sunny Italy, who
had in recent years caught a Whit
of American liberty, waited to her
over the lofty ridges of the Alpine
mountaines, with superhuman might,
overpassed their snowy heights and
pressed into the fray for human
lihortv-avo for hIln,opo ov;s@oooa