The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1933-11-09
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the country 1t In easy to understand why
those In charge of the dedication OF the Gettys-
burg battlefield cemetery shodd have invited
him to deliver the grafton at the dedicatory cere-
monies
So important was Everett that when, In reply
to the committees invitation to be present on
the date which they had set October g. 1861,
he wrote that 1t would be impossible for him to
be prepared In such a short time, the dedication,
to suit his convenience, was postponed nearly
month, to November 49,
Perhaps 1t should be explained that at this time
Gettysburg was not the national cemetery which
1t later became, even though the corporation
which controlled 1t was called "rhe National Sol
diers Cemetery" This corporation had board
OF trustees, made up Of representatives appointed
by the governors OF northern states. Is In num-
Der, from which had come the Union dead at
Gettysburg. Although these trustees had general
charge of laying out the cemetery, of the work
OF removal and reinterment of the bodies OF the
Union dead and of making the plans for imposing
dedication ceremonies the directing force In all
OF 1t was David Wills, citizen of Gettysburg
and the representative from Pennsylvania on the
board OF trustees.
After the date for the dedication ceremonies
had been finally set, formal invitations to attend
the ceremonies were sent to President Lincoln,
to the members of his cabinet, of both
houses Of congress and OF the diplomatic corps,
to Generals Meade and Scott and to many other
prominent citizens. president Lincolns invita-
ton to be present was not a written individual
request such as had been sent to Edward Ever
EFT and Others" says Doctor Barton In his book,
Lincoln at Gettysburg" 1T did not occur to any
member Of the commission that such q mlssive
should be addressed TO him. What was sent to
him was a printed circular of which many hun
dreds were mailed and was In no respect differ
ent from that sent to the most obscure congress
man from Minnesota or a consul from Patagonia
The sending Of 1t to the President was mere
formality. When Mr.. Wills informed his fellow
officials OF Mr.. Lncoln's acceptance. that group
was very greatly surprised, and they cannot be
said to have been overjoyed.'
The statement, made earlier In this article,
that Lincoln was an also-ran" at the Gettysburg
dedication Is based upon both verbal and written
statements of the late Clark E. Carr, member of
the board of trustees from Illinois. 1t was Carr
who suggested to the other members of the COM
mIttee that the President be invited to speak and
we have his word for 1t that his suggestion was
not received with any great enthusiasm by some
Of the other members. In his book, Lincoln at
Gettysburg" Carr says:
THE proposition to ask Mr.. Lincoln to speak
thought The President Of the United States had,
like the other distinguished personages, been in
vited to be present, but Mr.. Lincoln was not, at
that time, invited to speak In fact, 1t did not
seem to occur to any one that he could speak on
such an occasion.
Scarcely any member Of the board, excepting
the member representing Illinois, had ever heard
him speak at ALL and no other member had ever
heard or read from him, Anything except politi-
cal discussions. When the suggestion was made
that he be Invited to speak, while all expressed
high appreciation OF his great abilities as po-
litical speaker, rs shown In his debate with
Stephen A. Douglas, and In his Cooper Institute
address, the question was raised as to his ability
to speak upon such grave and solemn occasion
as that OF the memorial service. Besides, II was
said that with his important duties and RESPONSE
bllltes he could not possibly have the leisure to
prepare an address for such an occasion. In an