The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1926-05-31
i raCY
Day Of Tribute
Unknown Soldiers
Expanding Horizons
A Sacred Trust
BY Nj. e. TRACY

This is q DAY or tribute 10 tne HS nj
ing dead. 1t has its parallel in
every nation and every age.
Men do not go into battle without
believing it is for something worth
while and the people who survive
them respect their sincerity, even
thought they may come to disagree
with the ideal.
While standing at the graves of
our heroic dead. we must not for
get that the women and children of
those whom they fought are doing
likewise and with precisely the same
emotions.
| The German widow is entitled to
her tears. and the southern daugh-
ter to her proud memory.
On a thousand hills, the little
crosses CLEAN, some testifying devo-
ton to one flag, some to another. II
and large they mark the resting
place Of brave honest youth.
On more hills the crosses have dis
appeared and only fading records
show the heroism their soil en-.
shrines.
T. IL
In our great national cemetery at
Arlington sleeps the Unknown Sol
der, with sentry forever pacing
up and down.
For the immediate present, he
symbolizes the spirit that led our
boys to France without thought Of
reward or glory.
In a large sense, he symbolizes
the end of all earthly glories and
rewards.
Those who fought 1000 years ago,
or 1000 or even 500, are practically
all unknown soldiers now. though
they fought courageously and with
vivid idea that they knew what
they were fighting for.
T.
One cannot contemplate the end
less blood sacrifice without suspect
ing that much of it was vain.
Yet some Of it was necessary, and
the question arises. could civiliza-
ton have developed the hardihood
to preserve itself when confronted
with real emergencies, as it has been
on numerous occasions. without be-
ing schooled by a lot Of useless war.
T. + +
Horizons expand through the
growth of human intelligence. What
was indispensable yesterday can be
laid aside today and what seems i'm
dispensable today may be laid aside
tomorrow
Time was when the caveman's
only guarantee of peace with his
neighbors consisted Of a club.
Time was when the ideal Of pa
triotism did not extend beyond tribal
domains.
Through thousands Of years of
struggle and strife, of theorizing and
experimenting we have learned how
to live together peacefully in great
| nations.
The time may come, though it is
undoubtedly far away. when we
shall know how to live together
peacefully throughout the world.
T.
Meanwhile, let us preserve this re-
public, not because it is ours, nor yet
because it has been sanctified by the
blood Of those who died for 1t, but
because of all nations it has con-
tributed most to visualize the posi-
bility and practicability of peace.
do not have in mind the fact that
one of it's Presidents founded the
League of Nations when / say this,
or that another President called a
disarmament conference, or that still
third may maneuver it into the
World Court. All that is journalist.
What l have in mind is its COM
paratively small Army, it's fortress
frontiers and it's lack of Imperialism.
And when ! say that it must be
preserved, / do not have in mind
the land and wealth it possesses so
much as the traditions and principles
on which it rests.
\ T. l.
1t signalled a glorious triumph,
perhaps, when the American Flag
went up on Chapultepec, but IL
signalled a much more glorious
triumph when the flag came down.
Historically the Civil War ended
at Appomattox, but the victory was
not made. complete until President
Hayes gave back the South her
liberties.
If we can afford to be proud of
what this republic has done, we can
afford to be prouder of what it has
refrained from doing.
SO far as sheer power goes, il
might be in control of larger part
Of the western hemisphere, have it's
slice of Africa and its own ports on
the Asiatic coast.
The fact that it has not gone in
for conquest and colonization that
| it has not tried to see how much of
the world it could grab and dominate
still remains the most gratifying
fact in its career.
Let us acknowledge this as we
stand at the graves of our dead and
pay them tribute by holding 1t a