Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-04-28

not be unseemly to say that American
| example and conception of justice and
liberty since then have influenced the
| world little less significantly than
| Grant's service to the Union shaped
the course of our land.
"a score of new republics have I'M
furled their flags and democracy has
| opened new venue of liberty and
made justice more secure. And yet
| that very civilization. more advancing
| than entrenched, was threatened by the
world war, and in wars aftermath es-
tablished order has been assaulted and
revolution has been threatened through
out the world. In our own land the
enemies within have been more threat
ening than those without. Greed and
anarchy have menaced. But a calm
survey gives every assurance. Twen-
ty centuries of modern civilization
could not have been builded on founda-
tons which are false. A century and
a half of gratifying American achieve
ments dates from the sacrifices of the
founding fathers. and their firm struc-
ture was preserved by the patriots
whom Grant commanded and will be
held secure by the patriotic citizen
ship of the republic today and the
grateful Americans of the morrow"
Looms as Blend of Best
Declaring at the outset that he had
pondered over the attributes of the
character of Grant, the president said
the Union leader 'looms majestic in
the blend of them ail-his fame is Sc
cure"
In the supreme moment of victory,
with the union saved at unalterable
cost. he seemed to have surveyed the
many disappointmnts, the measureless
sacrifices and the indescribable heroes.
felt the assurance of the nation
preserved, and yet the one sweeping
utterance from his great heart was,
Let us ave peace.
MANY years later, when his life was
| ebbing, and he struggled to the end of
his memoirs, all the American people
knew of his brave fight and the in
evitable end. and the man of magnan-
nifty found himself the recipient of a
genuinely nationwide sympathy.
Triumph of Concord He Sought
He saw union follow disunion, but
it was not his to live to see complete
| concord where discord had flourished
/ 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 in the shared
burdens and triumphs of American
progress. we have indeed continued at
peace at home. Geographical section
alism is only a memory now. and
Mason and Dixon's line remains only
a historical record, where an ambiguity
in the federal constitution was wiped
out and the nation resumed the on
ward march on its destined way.
"Seemingly. it was a long time in
| which IN a-aotohJicI a conaNrJ 90 nan
| ifestly essential to the nations greater
achievements, but the understanding of
the magnificent Lee was not universal
throughout the south, the ~magnanimity
of Grant was not manifest throughout
| the north. Wounds had to be healed and
partisan politics temporarily profited
more in irritation than in healing. But
the war with Spain consecrated north
and south to a common cause, and the
sacrifice and nationwide service in the
world war revealed the common Amer
lean soul
One People Now
II do not mean to say that every
where in our land we are all in com
| plete accord with fundamentals of gov
eminent or the basic principles upon
which society is founded. But the sec
tonalism of Grants and Lees time has
Dtth VtldtSu IN tIt ktOSI dpulCdt uif1-
| sions which hindered the formation OF
the union and later threatened it's dis
ruption, have given way to the far less
menacing divisions which have challeng-
ed all civilization, and which make the
ferment out of which all progress
comes. We are today incontestibly one
people with a common purpose, uni
versal pride. nation-w wide confidence and
one flag. The contentious which beset
us are not ours alone, they are the
i%rritants to civilization throughout the
world. They are not to be ignored, but
they nave never halted the human pro-
gressions and will not hinder the pro-
gress of this firmly founded republic.
Example of Opportunity
Grant was himself the supreme !
example Of American opportunity. |
Standing before his humble birthplace, |
amid thetsurroundings of his obscure |
boyhOod life, one doubts three-Quarters |