Evening star., 1927-05-30

| IN LulI.
| Fellow Countrymen
In accordance with Iong-eStabliShed
custom we gather here on this return
| ing Decoration day to pay the tribute
| of respect and reverence due from
their Government to those who have
| borne arms in defense of the flag of
| our Republic. In no other country
| could the people feel, in performing
| like ceremony, that they were engaged
| in more worthy purpose. When this
! Nation has been compelled to resort
| to war. it has always been for a justi-
| fable cause. The pages of it's history
| are not stained with the blood of
unprovoked conflict. No treachery has
! ever exposed our sister nations to
| unWarranted attack. No lust for con-
| quest. no craving for power. no greed
| for territory, no desire for revenge
| has ever caused us to violate the cove
nants of international peace and
| tranquility.
1--WE have robbed no people of their
| independence, we have laid on no
| country the hand of oppression. When
our military forces have taken the field
| it has been to enlarge the area of self
| government to extend the scope of
| freedom and to defend the principles
| of liberty, We have established our
| independence, resisted encroachment
| upon our sovereignty, maintained our
national union, rescued afflicted peo
| pie from their oppression and brought
victory TO the cause of liberty in q
world convulsion. To all of our de-
| parted dead who on land and on sea
| have offered their blood in the support
| Of this holy and triumphant cause
| America today brings it's affectionate
arIo nd of ND it,1
Heroes Place Secure.
"We cannot contemplate these
| graves which are all about US. we
| cannot recall the history which they
| symbolic, without a deep conscious
ness that they have placed upon us
an obligation to take a tirmer reSolu-
tion that their sacrifices are to have
an influence on our conduct. The
| place which these heroic figures hold
in history is forevermore secure. They
| did not hesitate, they did not yield,
| they met their duty squarely. For
| its fultillment they were prepared to
give their fortunes and their lives. 1t
| ought never to be forgotten that 1t was
| out of this spirit, supported by these
| sacrifices, that our country was estab-
| lished, it's Constitution adopted and
supported, it's institutions formed and
| it's progress and prosperity created,
with all that these have meant to the
| success and happiness of our own peo-
| pie and to the advancement of human
welfare all over the world.
Reverence for the dead should not
| be divorced from respect for the Nv
| ing. If we hold those who have gone
| before in high estimation. it will be re-
| tiected in our copduct toward those
who are still with us. 1t would be
| idle to place a wreath on the grave of
| the dead and leave ungarlanded the
brow of the living. Our devotion to
| the memory of those who have served
| their country in the past is but a
| symbol of our devotion to those who
are serving their country at present.
| Although fortunate circumstances
| have placed us in the position where
| we do not need to maintain large and
| burdenSome military forces, although
| we are a people peculiarly devoted to
| the arts of peace, yet these are no
| reasons why we should withhold any
| thing of the just appreciation that is
| due to those who are deVoting their
| lives to the profession of arms. These
| men stand ready to respond at any
moment to the order of our Govern
ment to proceed to any point within
| the globe where disorder and violence
threaten the peaceful rights of our
| people. Their post is always the post
of danger and their lives are spent in
| service and sacrifice to promote the
| welfare of their country. America has
a just right to satisfaction and pride
| in the personnel and purpose of it's
Army and Navy. We cannot be loyal
to the flag If we fail in our admira-
tion for the uniform.
Still Evil Forces.
However much we wish to pursue
| the paths of peace, however much we
are determined to live on terms of
good will both at home and abroad,
| we cannot escape the fact that there
are still evil forces in the world which
all past experience warns us will
break out from time to time and do
serious damage to lawful rights and
the progress of civilization unless we
are prepared to meet such situations
with armed intervention. We could
| no more dispense with our military
forces than we could dispense with our
| police forces. While we are firmly
| convinced that it is altogether prac-
| tical and possible by international
covenants to limit them in size, to
consent to their abolition would he to
expose ourselves first to aggression
| and finally to destruction.
IF we are sincere in our expressed
determination to maintain tranquility
at home and peace abroad, we must
| not neglect to lay our course in ac
| cordance with the ascertained facts of
life. We know that we have come
into possession of great wealth and
high place in the world. There is
scarcely a civilized nation which is
not our debtor. We are sufficiently
acquainted with human nature to real
iZe that we are oftentimeS the object
of envy. Unless we maintain Suffi
cient forces to be placed at points of
peril when they arise, thereby avoid
ing for the most part serious attack,
there would be grave danger that we
should suffer from violent outbreaks,
so destroying our rights and compro-
missing our honor that war would be-
come inevitable. 1t is to protect our
selves from such danger that we main
tain our national defense. Under this
policy it is perfectly apparent that
our forces are dedicated solely to the
preservation Of peace.
Basis of Good Will.
although we are we'll aware that in
the immediate past and perhaps even
now there are certain localities where
our citizens would be given over to
pillage and murder but for the pres
ence of our military forces, neverthe-
less, it is the settled policy Of our Gov
ernment to deal with other nations
| not on the basis Of force and compul-
sion, but on the basis of understand
| ing and good will. While we wish for
peace everywhere, it is our desire that
it should be not peace imposed by
America, but a peace established by
each nation for itself. We want our
relationship with other nations based
not on meeting of bayonets, but on
a meeting of minds. We want our in
| terCourse with them to rest on Justice