The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1922-05-31
GRATEFUL AMERICANS
Continued from Page one)

since came to realize that a vain as
sassin robbed 1t OF its most sincere
and potent friend when II was pros
trate and stricken. when LincolnS
sympathy and understanding would
have helped to heal the wounds and
hide the scars and speed the reStora'
ton.
How. with his love Of freedom and
Justice. this apostle Of humanity
would have found his sorrow tenfold
repaid to see the hundred millions to
whom he bequeathed reunion and ma
tionality, giving their Sons and daugh-
tiers and all their fortunes 10 halt the
armed march OF autocracy and pre-
servo civilization. even as he pre-
served the union.
More. how his great American
heart would be aglow to NO 'Hw we
are going on. always On. . 10
constitutional methods. amending to
rect requirements Of a progressive
civilization. clinging to majority rule.
properly restrained. which is The only
true sovereign CT free people, and
working ont the fulfilment OF the des-
tiny of tho worlds greatest republic"
! Mr.. Taft's Address.
Trnnsfer1i ing the memorial from the
commission to the head Of the govern
rent. Chief Justice Taft told how its
! first suggestion had come twenty
wears AGO. TO lie fallow a decade be-
fore it was seized upon and wrought
with close adherence to the broad
vision Of what this great American do
served OF his countrvmen. into the
stately structure OF today. II was per
! haps well. he said. that half a century
should have passed before the emblem
. o. LincOln's greatness should have
been erected. for in that time America
, he'd time to grow in the arts and ar
probation that went back TO the sim
nlc, massive lines Of Greek architHc-
ture 10 find in it precedent for such
work.
at is a magnificent gem" Mr.. TAFT
said ~ the memorial "set In lovely
valley between the hills. commanding
them BY its isolation and its entranc-
ire brIltv. the elimination or the
! highest art OF which America is capa'
{ bic Here on the banks Of tie Poto-
mac. the boundary between the two
sertiorr whose conflict made the bur
den. passion and triumph Of his life.
It is peculiarly appropriate that 1t
should stand"
Speaks for the Negro.
! Tho only other speaker was DR..
Robert r Motion OF Tuskesee tnst
tute. speaking for the negro Amert-
cans. and he laid weight upon the dec.
: laration that it was 1incoln's name
that stood first in The hearts OF these
! % Onn n:O o. his Countrymen. Lincoln's
death, he said. was the last and
ccstliest sacrifice upon the altar OF
| freedom"
"r sneak for the negro race" h" said
. Upon us pcrhans NOR" Than upon any
other rrour Of the nation rests tho i'm
mediate obligation to Justify so dear
price for our emancipation.
"No one Is more sensible than the
negro himself to his homogeneous posi-
ton IN the great American republic
But hc Il recorded to his everlasting
credit. that no failure to reap the full
reward Of his sacrifices has ever in the
least degree qualified his loyalty or
cooled his patriotic fervor.
Emancipation Justified
4 race that has produced Frederick
Douglas In the midst of slavery and
Booker T. Washington In the after
math OF reconstruction. has gone far
to justify It's emancipation. And the
nation where such achievement Is pos
sible Is full worthy OF such heroic sac
rilce."
The only other feature OF the dedi-
cation ceremony was Edwin Marhham's
defamation of his revised poem to Lin
coin:
! "A man to hold against the world.
IA man to match the mountains and