The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1932-05-30
They March in Memory

once more the nation pays It's tribute Of memory
to the men who established by bitter war, the in
tegrity Of this nation
Only a few Of the survivors Of that conflict re-
main to march again in memory. 20 recall to the
present day that there was time in this land when
OF ike birth. similar thoughts, ideals,
principles and aspirations hlled each other.
Today the youth Of the land not, in
imagination recreate that time and era. They
not believe that their srandfathers Of the north
fought the grandfathers Of the southern lads with
whom they chum in college or of the wives they
found south Of the Mason and Dixon line.
Oblivion has blotted out the bitterness Great
changes have washed away the The
between the states becomes an almost preposterous
incident Of our history
And yet, these men who journey today to ceme-
teries to place wreath and flag upon the tomb
stones OF their comrades Of other days, knew the
tremendous cost to themselves OF that forgotten
conflict.
They remember the wounds upon the battehelds,
the sickness in the camps the days OF hunger the
nights Of discomfort, the scars they carry.
They know now that it was all 50 unnecessary.
They know that had sanity and not passion, toler-
Rnce and not greed. wisdom and not demagogery
guided the actions Of the national congress then,
every problem could have been settled peacefully and
with much less disocation in the national and indi
vdual life
They know this to be true because the years have
shown that the Of the south and the men OF
the north had then and still have reverence for lib
erty as represented by the flag
They have watched, in the Spanish war their
sons march with the Of the men they fought
They have seen their grandsons march with the
euandsons Of their enemies to the fields OF France
They have seen good will replace hatred and friend
ship supplant enmity.
These men who remain have lived long enough
b know that change is the law OF life for they have
seen many changes. The guns they fred are re-
placed by mechansms that put forth multiplied
death, not the end OF a single antagonist They
have seen the sirpsne replace the horse They have
seen the entire system Of living change and change
again as science and invention bring new comforts
and new luxures.
They have seen vast changes come into our So
eial organization with some leader OF vision leading
to new day against the protest of the conservative
who has ever fought change just as the conservatives
fought in their youth against the suggestion that it
was possible to end the institution of human slavery
They know by their long years Of observation that
every change has through the insniration OF
men who dare to face facts and apply the necessary
solution for each new problem as it appears.
They know, too, how deeply imbedded in the
human heart is the love Of liberty which survives
al other passions, and they tell us, If we listen,
that whatever changes may be made in the near
fture this love of liberty will direct and dominate our
national thought
Whatever else may 90, whatever change may come
they have the faith that the bulwarks of liberty for
which they fought will be kept intact the firm foun-
dalton Of all progress