The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1921-05-31

ofWoOW " ATetH1t0W bNosso"~s SS"eS'
I'VE are met on sacred soil to-
day for q solemn hour of sacrament
and conservation. But the soil
whence we come Is itself sanctifed
through the sacrifices Of those who
lie here. wherever our flag fies
within the boundaries of the re-
public, 1t is over lands whose FREQ
dom and security have been wrought
through these sacrifices.
.It IL the privilege OF this COM
pany to utter our tribute of love and
gratitude in this sacristy of beauty
within the sight of the National
Capital. But others, no less devout,
will assemble all over our land. ana
other lands, under foreign skies and
among alien peoples, to pay like
tribute of love and memory. There
In no discordant note In the hymn
of gratitude. With old wounds
healed. and a new generations Of
ferinRs on the affairs OF our pa
triotism. there Is no sectionalism In
our memorial. Among the muir
murings of grief Is the swelling
concord of union. and the dominant
note 10 our faith In the republic.
ALL TURN TO AMERICA.
"It will be q tribute today spoken
in many tongues, and by diverse
races. Wherever men are free they
are wont to give thought to our
country's service in freedoms cause.
Where men may but aspire to a
freedom not yet achieved, their In
stfnct turns the eye and tie thought
OF hope this way. and they pray
that their cause may gain our ap-
probation. They know that we have
never drawn the sword of oppres-
sion, that we have not sought what
was not our own. nor taken all
that we might have claimed. They
have seen our protecting arm
stretched over the outposts Of lib
erty on every continent.
Tor more than q century our
plighted word warned tyranny from
half tho world; then. when the
gauge was taken up by mad ambi-
ton. men felt the blow that arm
could strike when freedom answered
In its utmost might. Across the
seaSwe sent our hosts of liberty's
sons, commissioned ito redress the
eternal scales Today the sons and
daughters of other lands to which
they gave their all are placing with
loving hands their laurels on Ameri-
can graves, not less reverently than
we are doing here.
TO me, no thought comes with
more OF inspiration than this, that
now, our Memorial Day Is become
an international occasion; that IL
calls upon the fortunate free Of
many lands and countries, to help
In It's observance: and that equally
to them and us II is a reminder OF
our common troth to civilization,
humanity, and everlasting justice.
CAN NEVER PAY DEBT.
There are gathered here the
ashes of a great army of those
who fought In the struggle which
preserved our union and insured
our high place in the community
OF nations. Our debt to them will
never be paid. but we can come.
for them, and for ourselves on
this national commemoration day
10 attest our generation and un-
dying love. They rendered a serv-
Ice greater than they knew. for
they saved our nation to the cause
of human freedom and paved the
way to that power and influence
which enabled IL to play its part
In behalf of all mankind in the
time of supreme crisis of the world.
we would not overappraise their
sacrifice IL we say that, had they
failed, their failure would have so
weakened the forces of liberty and
enlightenment that these would
have been doomed. in the more re-
cent world trial. to failure and de-
feat. A divided America would
have been incapable of the effort
that was demanded to hold our
present-day civilization secure. The
heroic dead, for whom the day was
originated. preserved the ark OF
the covenant of union and nation
ality. and in that service they made
possible the exalted place SO re-
Gently won for our country.
Our own generation Will not per-
form part worthy of its heritage
IL we do less than our very utmost
to preserve that which they made
possible for us to possess. Nay,
more, We shall not be our most and
best at home IL we do not resolve
for all time that the differences
which brought us to civil conflict
were due to antiquities in our
Union and the disputes between two
schools of political thought, and
when we made union indissoluble
and the nation supreme. we left our
people one flag, one purpose, one
pride and one destiny.
MUST PROVE OURSELVES.
In such a view we must see that
our opportunity to be useful to
mankind at large depends first IN
being loyal to ourselves. No ideal
of generosity to all men can justify
neglect FIRST to make ourselves
strong, Arm, secure. in benalf OF
our own people. We can not hope
to discharge the wider RESPONSE
bilities IL we have not first proved
our capacity to meet the narrower
ones. 1t Is our wish to be useful
In the greater realms; but IL we
are to do so, we must have NO
question of our devotion to thu
great principles for which these
gave their lives in the struggle
which saved the Union and rededi-
Gated 1t forever to liberty. l coun.
sci no sel6shness, no little Ameri-
canism. no mere parochialism
when / urge that our first duty IL
to our own. and THAI in the meas
sure OF its performance we VIII
md the true gauge of our capacity
to be helpful to others.
1t 10 a good thing to come to
u L. a a -