South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1922-04-28

fash OF daring vicksburg his trophy
Of courage and unalterab.e deter.
miratl0u. Petersburg the revelation
% hls genius. But at AppomattoX he
was Grant. the magnanimOus. who
spoke for reunion as he had fought
for union. and turned from grim
warrior 20 the arnba ssador OF peace
He could neither hate nor humliate
and in the very glow OF surprising
triumph he could not be ungracious
or incous.derate.
HE saw union follow disunion. but
70 was not his 90 live 10 see complete
concord where discord had flourish
cd. ] wish he somehow might
know that In the more than a third
OF a century since his one and only
surrender. the indissoluble ties Of
union have been more firmly riveted,
and ln the shared burdens and trI-
umphs OF American progress we
have indeed continued at peace at
home. Geographical sectionalism Is
only a memory now. and Mason and
DIXON line remains only a historical
record. where an ambiguity in the
federal constitution was wiped out
and the nation resumed the onward
march on its destined way
The Great Nationalist.
Seemingly. 1t was a long time in
which 10 re-establish a concord so
man!festly essential 10 the nations
greater achievements. but the under
standing Of the magnificent Lee was
not universal throughout the south,
the magnanimity of Grant was not
manifest throughout the north.
Wounds had 10 be healed, and parti-
san politics temporarily prOfted more
in irritation than IN healing. But
the war with Spain consecrated north
and south 20 a common cause, and
the sacrifice and nationwide service
i'm the World war revealed the COM
mon American soul. Grant, the great
nationalist. who appraised union anc
nationality above all the frightful
I cost and suffering, would rejoice TO
acclaim the republic of today.
Il do not mean to say that every
where in our land we are all in
complete accord about fundamentals
Of government or the basic principles
upon which society is founded. But
/ the secuonalism of Grants and Lees
time has been effaced. and the geo
graphical divisions which hindered
the formation Of the union and later
threatened its disruption, have given
way TO the far less meIacing divi-
sions which have challenged all civ
uizatiOn. and which make the fer
ment out Of which all progress
comes.
eve are today incontestably one
people, with a common purpose, uni
versal pride, nation wide confidence
and one flag. The contentious which
beset us are not ours alone, they are
the irritants TO civilization through
out the world. They are not be ig-
nored, but they have never halted
the human procession. and will not
hinder the progress of this firmly
founded republic.
Example OF L. =. Opportunity.
Grant was himself the supreme
example Of American opportunity.
Standing before his humble birth
place. amid the surroundings of his
obscure boyhood life, one doubts if
three quarters Of a century ago any
one should have sought here for the
military chieftain of a century. We
have not a few. even today, who
think small town vision to be pitifully
circumscribed And yet this little
Clermont county furnished in Ulysses
S. Grant and Henry c. Corbin two
Of the Is lieutenant generals who
have been commissioned in all OuI
history.
1T IS conceivable that men are
prejudiced in their attitude toward
great problems by their own expert
ences. more by their disappoint-
ments than their successes. Grants
own experience in life might have
led a less deliberate character to
welcome an upheaval or disunion or
any reversal 10 the government. But
this silent man did not appraise his
country by the scale OF his own mis-
fortunes.
J "He had seen much Of the repub-
lie In boyhood he drove often 10
Cincinnati and saw the developins
city, much as he saw St. Louis later
or. I'm his early married life. Be
tween these two periods Of observa-
ton he had graduated from West
Point. he had served creditably in
the Mexican war. and was stationed
as a military officer on the Pacific
coast.
He saw the westward course of
the star Of empire. He saw two typi-
/ cal American cities grow under the