The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1921-11-11
PRESIDENTS ADDRESS.
(Contfaued from Page ID


cherished our natioraI- rights, and alb
horred the threat of armed domination
and in the maelstrom of destruction and
suffering and death he fired his shot for
liberation of the captive conscience OF the
| world. In advancing toward his Objec-
| tive was somewhere a thought of world
awakened: and we are here to testify
lundying gratitude and reverence for that
| thought of a wider freedom.
On such an occasion as this, amid such
a scene, our thoughts alternate between de-
/ tenders living and defenders dead. \
grateful republic will be worthy OF them
| both. Our part is to atone for the losses
| of heroic dead by making better repub-
! lie for the living.
| Sleeping in these hallowed grounds are
! thousands of Americans who have given
| their blood for the baptism OF freedom
and its maintenance, armed opponents OF
| the nations conscience. 1t is better and
inobler fol. their deeds Burial here is
rather more than Il sign of the govern
ment's favor, it is a suggestion of tomb
! in the heart of the nation, sOrrowing for
! its noble dead.
| Todays ceremonies proclaim that the
hero unknown is not unhonored. We
gather him to the nations breast, within
| the shadow of the capitol, of the towering
shaft that honOrs Washington, the great
father, and of the exquisite monument to
Lincoln. the martyred savior. Here the
inspirations of yesterday and the con-
science of today forever unite to make
the republic worthy of his death for flag
and country.
Wish There Might BE No More War.
Ours are lofty resolutions today, as
with tribute to the dead we cOnsecrate
yourselves to a better order for the living.
With all my heart. | wish we might say
! to the defenders who survive, to mothers
who sorrow, to widows and children who
mourn. that no such sacrifice shall be
asked again.
! 1t was my fortune recently to see a
demonstration of modern warfare. 1t is
no longer a conflict in chivalry, no more
test of militant manhood. 1t Is only
cruel, deliberate, scientific destruction.
! As this panorama of unutterable deStruc-
| ton visualiZed the horrors of modern con-
I flict, there grew on me- the sense of the
| failure of a civilization Which can leave
! its problems to such cruel arbitrament.
Surely no one in authority, with human
attributes and a full appraisal of the
patriotic loyalty of his countrymen, could
ask the manhood of kingdom. empire, or
republic to make such sacrifice until all
reason had failed, until appeal to justice
! through understanding had been denied,
until every effort of love and cOnsidera-
| ton for fellow men had been exhausted,
until freedom itself and inviOlate honor
| had been brutally threatened.
l.speak not as a pacifist fearing war,
but as one who loves justice and hates
war. l speak as one who believes the
highest function of government is to give
its citizens the security of peace, the OPP
portunity to achieve, and the pursuit Of
happiness
! The Loftiest Tribute.
The Hottest tribute we can bestow to-
/ day-the heroically earned tribute-fash-
Toned in deliberate conviction, out of un-
clouded thought, neither Swallowed by re-
morse nor made vain by fancies, is the
commitment Of this republic to an adj
J yanCement never made before. If Amcri-
can achievement is a cherished pride at
! home. if our unSClfShneSS among nations
! is all we wish it to be, and ours IS Il
helpful example in the world, then let-uS
give of our influence and strength, yea, of
our aspirations and convictions, to put
mankind on a little higher plane. exulting
I and eXalting. with wars distressing and
depressing tragedies Barred from the stage
of righteous civilization.
There have been a thousand dcfenses
justly and patriotically made; a thousand
| offenSes which reason and Righteousness
men to join Us in seeking the rule under
which reason and righteousness shall IRE
vail
Sacrifice Not i'm Vain.
p. Standing today on hallowed ground,
conscious that all America has halted to
share in the tribute of heart and mind and
soul to this fellow American. and know
ing that the world is noting this express
sion of the republics mindfuness. it is
fitting to say that his sacrifice, and that
of the millions dead. shall not be in vain.
There must be- there shall be, the COM
manding voice of a conscious civilization
against armed warfare.
As we return this poor clay to its
mother soil, garanded by love and COW
cred with the decorations that only ma
tons can bestow, l can sense the prayers
of our people, of all peoples, that this
Armistice day shall mark the beginning
! of a new and lasting era Of peace on
earth. good will among man