New Britain Herald Newspaper, April 16, 1915, Page 11

Y G. A. R. Camp Fire is Veterans, Local Infantry, and —Commander-in-Chief David J. Palmer of Iowa One of Speakers— New Song Is Sung. The ‘most impressive feature of the forty-cighth annual encampment of the Connecticut Grand Army of the Republic in New B n tl Was the camp fire and entertainment at the state armory last evening, Which was attended by several hun- dred veterans from ali parts of the State and was honored by the pres- ence of the Commander-in-Chief David J. Palmer of Des Moines, Ia. . The exercises were begun by a pa- $ade of the voterans from G. A. R. MAYOR QUIGLEY, Feature o f Encampment, Boy Scouts Parade at 7:30 Where few will ever stand, While in the depths of forests, Or by the stream so clear, May we ever turn Wwith thoughts, To this, our land so dear, loving Now to our beloved nation, Will we extend a hand, In one united purpose To guard our homes g0 grand; So in the coming ages All nations shall agree LOTUIS P, SLADE. armory and were ended by an exhibition drill by sixteen mem- bers of Company T, C. N. G. About 130 Boy Scouts participated in the march and were present during the ! early part of the program and the armory and the gallery were filled by members of the G. A. R. and its Auxiliaries and visitors. “A Jolly Good Time.” /4 The camp fire was called to order by Department Commander Frederick | ¥. Streeter at 8:10 o’clock. *“It is my | privilege,” he said, “to welcome to a jolly good time.” Judd's orchestra struck up a lection, a potpourri of martial Which sent a thrill through every person in the crowded hall. On the Mlatform were seated the commander | ald his staff, a numbersof prominent | veterans, officers of the four conven- | tions in session in the city, including | the Women's auxiliaries, Half of the hall was filled with Grand Army Peterans, markers toppe@ with Amer- lean flags setting off the different posts. - Bhall to the You se- airs, | America we live for thee, | Land of our birth, | Beautiful, | the address of | been asked, he said, to present to the {veterans the keys of the city, some- | thir shackles of the slaves, this eity and all other cities were let | down, standard of attainment ‘Tha’ in beautiful America The peoples all are free. Chorus, America we die for thee, America, America, so beautiful and free; This is the homeland, Where all is music, Sunshine and mirth, May we this freedom Ne'er try to sever, Beautiful America We love thee, ves love thee, forever. Keys of City Delivered. Mayor George A. Quigley delivered | welcome. He had he thought wholly unnecessary. Ior, as the soldiers knocked off the | the bars of | “You have set for the world a new | in that you Seats were reserved for delegates from the Sons of Veterans, the Ladies of_the G. A, R. and the Daughters of Veterans, Boy Scouts Present, FEveryone rose as the orchestra did not fight for vour own race, but vou fought that all men of all races should be free and equal, I thus pre-! sent you the keys of the city and assure you that for half a century | you have possessed the key to our| | shall played ‘“The Star Spangled Bannuer,™ the veterans gradually joining in the singing and the Boy Seouts, lined up on both sides of the hall, waving their flags. As the selection proceeded, the Boy Scouts marched out. Lommander-in-Chief David J. Palmer of Des Moines, Ia., was pre- sented by Commander Streeter, the atdience rising and the veterans salut- Ing their chief. The orchestra played “Hail to the Chief.” The singing of “The Star Spangled Banner” was one of the stirring fea- tures of the program, Frank N. KeNy of Wallingford sang each verse and the audience joined in the chorus. Mrs. Thyra Dossell played Chopin's erzo in B Flat Minor.” Crowd Watches Parade, The parade fromm G. A. R. hall to the State armory was watched by srewds which lined both sides “of Main street. So thick was the crowd at the center, that barely enough snough room was left for the passage of . the soldlers. The parade was headed hy the American Fife and Drum corps, which rolled out the beats. Companies E and I, C. N. G., followed in regular formation. The veterans, about 120 strong, marched four abreast with a Eoy Scout liné on each side of the G. A. R. line. The rest of the Bcouts closed the procession. In all there were about 130 Boy Scouts. Ecout Commissioner Stanfey Sheldon was in general charge with the scout masters in charge of the different troops. Rev. S. A. Fiske of Berlin, was i present with the Boy Scout troed of Berlin. Boy Scouts were in attendance upon the veterans all day and did excellent work. They were highly praised by the veterans, many of whom came into contact with the organization for the first time in their lives. Song Dedicated to Veterans. Frank N. Kelly sang ‘“Beautiful America,” the words and music of which were written by Mrs. Metta E. atreeter, daughter-in-law of Depart- ment Commander Streeter. Professor F. F. Harmon played the accompani- | ments for Mr. Kelly, Commander Strecter said Mrs. sireeter had worked for three months upon this sond, which shortiy will he gent broadcast over the country and will be dedicated to the Grand Army vetdrans. The song, which was sung for the first time last night, follows: In the land where freedom rings f'rom the east and from the west, Where all the people gather 7o worship and are blest, { Where sunshine, birds and music, Make life one dream of love, \While our Holy Father wa:iches mrom his heavenly home above. ‘hen far from home we wander, §n forelgn climes so grand, and scale the highest mountains, hearts.” Saying this Mayor Quigley present- ed to Commander Streeter a big wood- en Kkey. After the applause and | laughter had died down, the com- | mander thanked him on behalf of | the veterans. Speech of Commander-in-Chief. “I assure you that I owe a good deal to the state of Connecticut, per- sonally, because they helped Iowa ta secure the commander in-chief at the encampment at Detroit. Iowa fur- nished about 80,000 troops and this| is the first time she has had a com- mander-in-chief.” Commander-in-Chief David J. Pal- mer of Des Moines, Ia., thus began his address to the veterans. He said he had given up the year to visiting the different posts in the United States. He did not care, however, to visit the post In Mexico because he no longer cared for war. He said he found New Britain dec- orated better than any city he had visited in his travels. Speaks of “Boy War.” “It was a boy war,” he said, in speaking of the Civil War enlistment. “I tell you, my fellow citizens, there was sufficient blood shed to make that flag free from the spot of slavery.” The purpose of the war was orig- inally not to liberate the slaves, he said. The soldiers proposed to save the Union. He told of the visit of ministers who came to urge Abraham Lincoln to liberate the slaves. Even ‘on this occasion the war president was ready to jest. A number of incidents of the war and G. A. R. encampments were related by the spealker. To instill a respect and love for the flag in the schoal boy is the duty of the G. A. R. and its auxiliaries, he said. Boys and girls are certainly not as respectful, he said, as the boys of '61 who went into the service. “I tell you,” he said, “they were glad to get a letter from their sweetheart mothers. Some of the bays had no other sweethearts. They were too voung when they enlisted to look a girl in the face. T see some who are only twelve years old looking them in the face today.” A Word For the Mothers. Every son and every 'grandson, he said, ought to see that every grand- mother has a flower dropped on her grave on Memorial Day. The women of ’61 did as much for the war of the rebellion as did the men. The speaker spoke stirringly of the position of mothers in the war and of the respect due them now. He told of the sad scenes of parting. We ought not to forget, he said, the people who bore bore the brunt of battle and this in- cludes the wives and mothers of that time. “Country Unprepared For War.,” “Don’t you ever think,” he said, “that we are full of war. We have i i | | the people, | of people, came the need of some sort had enough, but, I tell you what we want. We want the people of this country to know that we are not any too well guarded on our borders. The government is entirely too penurious with its national guard. “Every boy ought to be taught about our defenses. It's not that we want war, but we want to keep people from making war on us. I would rath- er build warships at several million dollars of expense every year than send one of our boys to die. It's the very best material we have that takes up arms. We want to take carc of them.” ‘Widow’s Pension. Commander Palmer spoke in favor of an increased pension for the wid- ows to the soldiers. He did not think any woman should be denied a pension because she was not a “first wife.” “I tell you,” he said, “any woman who is willing to strike out and live with you duffers for only a year ought to have a pension.” “Growth of Democracy.” Louis P. Slade, principal of New Britain High school, made the princi- pal address of the eveing, his subject being, “The Growth of Democracy.” The speech follows: My first object as I come before you tonight is to assure you and have you continually reassured that T appreciate most gonuinely that honer you con- fer upon me. My knowledge concern- ing the great war between the states has been acquired indirectly. Born some years after peace had been guaranteed, T cannot look back for in- spiration to a father called, within my memory, to the colors; nor to the sending forth of the local company of volunteers. T cannot point to letters from the front addressed to an anx- ious mother. You have followed the flag, have faced the cannon and the bayonet, have stood up asgainst the volleys of regiments, have endured the intensest suffering, exposure, and neglect. Some/ of you suffer to this very hour as a result of the great con- flict. My calling has led me in the | ways of pleasantness and in the pat¥ of peace and yet I am asked to something appropriate to this occa- sion. In assuming that we have, yvou | and I, in common, within us, those | wells of patriotism and devotion springing up into everlasting lift, and | manifested once in military efficiency i now perhaps in other forms, but al- ways in the service of the largest cause ——in assuming this, you introduce me most happily and most auspiciously. What is this largest cause in which vou once served on many battle- fields, in which you and I are still serving in the cities and towns of the distinguished commonwealth of Con- necticut? 1In his beautiful Gettysburg address reaching so far, so high, so deep, President Lincoln defined this largest cause. He said: ‘Tt is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have tnus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us; to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from tiiese honored dead we take increased ! devotion ot that cause for which they gave the last full measure of de- votion; that we here highly re- solve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under | God, shall have a new birth of free- dom, and that government of the people is our ttask: and it is the ad- not perish from the earth.” The maintaining of government of by the peeople, for the | people is our task; and 1tis the ad- vance of this movement or the growtp of democracy which I would ask vou to follow with me for a fittle while this evening. Beginning of Government. In the dim past with tne first group of government of the people and judg- ! ing from the savage tribes of today in Australia, in Africa, in the east, and in our own America, foliowing the need came the organization of a cer- taln kind of government under the authority of sorcerers or medicine| men. With the domestication off animals came an advance in the gov- ernment; and with the introduction of agriculture and the taking of a settled abode, a further advance. But it was still a mere government of the people. The chief of the tribe, the heads of the clans, the fathers of the families interpreted and administered the customs of the race. Population increased and there was a seareity of food: wealth increased and there was temptation to the mili- tary adventurer; weapons of war im- there were migrations; new was seized. Races were mixed; the blood relationship faded away; the tribe and its chief, its clans, and its families, gave way to the state and its citizens, In these states we have a few examples of democracy. In Athens of ! tne time of Pericles, in the fifth cen- tury before the Christian era, the con- stitution had the appearance of being a pure democracy. The assembly was made up of all the male citizens over eighteen years of age, and was the uliimate source of all political au- thority. From the juries of the citi- zens there was no appeal. But all these powers of government were possessed by 30.000 voters: only these born of an Athenian father and an Athenian mother could be citizens. Ten thousand foreign residents and one hundred thousand slaves were without political power; to say noth- | ing of the two hundred and a half tributary states whose fortunes were in the hands of Athens. Clearly a government of the people by a few of the people. The Roman Empire, A little city on the Tiber became the nucleus of the great Roman Em- pire. At the beginnmng of the his- torieal peériod she called herself a re- publtc. The common people entered into a struggle with the aristocratic party and secured an equal share in the government; but this was only within the city state. The territory of this city state was increased until it made of the Mediterranean Sca a Roman lake but the government re- mained in the hands of the citizens of- Rome, and the number of these citizens was comparatively small, Roman citizenship was but slowly ex- tonded at first, and when the number was more Tapidly increased it was | This $5 PANTS FREI Copyright 1015 but citizenship in a nominal republic; for the republic had become an em- vire With a Ceasar in control. A government of the people by a con- quering city then by one man. From the north of Europe the bar- barians poured into the Roman Em- pire. 1In place of one world state we have a number of kingdoms whica soon broke up into hundreds of little | states. With few exceptions, one owed allegiance to The feudal tem declined; the little weak states were brought to- gether; the allegiance to the lord gave way to the allegiance to the king. was government of the people, first by many lords of the people, then by the king. As the kings became arbitrary and cruel they were forced to yield to the people a measure of power. John of England was forced to grant the great charter in 1215, and his suc- cessors had to grant more. In France this change came late and because it was late it camec with the terrible French revolution and the reign of terror. The people were coming to their rights, but at first it was only the upper ranks of the peo- ple who were governing the people. The American Nation. Long before the growth of democ- racy* had brought the bloodshed and crime of the French revolutién, our fathers herc in the new world were laying the foundations of that ‘‘new nation conceived in liberty and dedi- cated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” The fathers came from that state in Europe which had made the farthest advance In demo- cratic ideas; but even the English of the mother count had not at that time gone beyond the idea that the individual exised for the state. The colonists, in the free air and un- touched soil of the new continent, es- tablished the idea that the state should cxist for the individual, es- tablish, that is, the dignity of the individual man. The institutions and customs of the old world were far aw Unhampered, they built up their little commonwealths, and in them produced the many characters known and unknown of which we are s0 proud. To these leaders, the per- sonal government of George the Third was impossible, In 1776, what they had long experienced in their lives they declared: and made their dec- laration good by the American revolu- tion. The government of the people, by the people had become a govern- ment for the people, Europe looked on and expeccted failure. Three centuries before the Christian era, the philosopher Aris- totle outlined as inevitable for every state a smeries of revolutions which should bring out of democracy, anarchy, and the return to the abso- lute power of a single man. FEurope has looked for such a development here. It may be that she still pects it, but we who have faith the republic believe otherwise. that is best within us morally, and spiritually, feudal every lord, ex- in All olitically, points the According to established precedent, the time take and make a profit is during the busy sease Ordinarily I would follow out this rule myseif & make my profit in anticipation of the dull season come. But thus far this season I have seen nothi that would warrant a strongly optimistic view f a booming trade condition. For that reason ] 3 going to reduce my stock while the going is gog I am going out for business NOW, BIG BU: NESS--and I am going to get it or bust a b Beginning tonight I place on sale a suiting that formerly sold up to $18 $20, $22.50 and $25. My prices no will be for SUIT or TOPCOAT to mea $12.50 and $15 And this includes an all wool $5 Pants absolutely FREE Remember you don’t have to pay the full amoun now. A small deposit will suffice to hold any suiting Over 200 styles of cloths to select from. “TOM” MURRA 394 Main Street. New Britain, Conn JEM. Open Evenings Till 9:00 P. M., Saturday 9:30 . M by some { -in a measure, | our training and our blessings ! hard for us to be quiet, way., I could not more fitting presence a which must always be despair of the republic. The Growth of Slavery. have followed our hi of the revolution days there had almost by been introduccd a foreign ele- ment. An institution, already con- demned by the old world had crept into the new. Men were sold in the American colonies, At first, the danger did not seem to be appreciat- | ed; the best and the truest of the | fathers seemed blinded. Gradually the problem grew, the institution seemed to be prefitable and in one part of our country seemed to be in- dispensable and the solution of the other speak in a watchword ours. Never We the close colonial chance nations. velopment is prompted towards every world over. Chief of the G. A. was read Following Scout, delivery audience problem was delayed and delayed, un- The ordinary means were sufficient, H “last solution was left to you; the full measure of devotion” was need- ed. You fought and won, you re- established the prineiple that gov- ernment exists for all the pcople, for cvery one of the people. Shall we not go farther? Must we not go farther if we would be true to the dedication of this ernment and to the honored dead Should we not rededicate oursclves to the work of making our govern- ment a government for all the peo- ple of the great world, not a gov. ernment of all the peaple but fou all the people. If we be righteous and true, if we would be genuinely natural, in accord with the rights of man as set forth in the great dec- laration, we must concern ourselves with our brothers not of this great country alone, but with those of the north, the south, the east and the west, with those of the nations now torn by the worst war of history. The Past and the Present. As we gather here to recall great and terrible events of vears ago. across the ocean men by the thousands are being hurried into eternity. Thousands are enduring untold agonies, thousands are starv- ing. What shall we say of the growth of democra there? We have been asked, and. with the best of judgment, to be neutral. Our sit- uation is such that we are under nc physical constraint to take sides. Can | it be possible that these governments governments by the ! people—are now acting for the peaple. for the good of the people, for the individuals among the people? With it is . but can we | not say with him who laid down his life fifty years azo today ‘“the judg- ments of the Lord are truc and right- eous all together?” ! “With malice towards none, with ' charity for all,” with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work | we are in, to do all which n ! achieve and cherish a just and last- ' ing peace among ourselves and with all nations.” The work we are now in is not merely the domestic of fifty years ago, it is a work with gov- the fifty task Our of by and in none man Closing letter from Pa by inability to Boy Scout's recited enunciation smooth stened with intent recitation was the story til we reached the point at which no | ™= = democracy the spirit of charity R. Commander Streeter which the regret of the former chief 'a his | expressed. this Carl was good and to Lincoln’s experience of the tribute the tribut of not understand federate soldier !bute for him The newly work in this de- all that of malice for all, image, the is Gettysburg given him God’'s ercises. t Commander-in- | Alfred B. Beers in clected liam H. Hart few remarks in pi mander Allen T. be present was silence, until interpreted Pratt in the address by his al which a ayl Division mander of the Sons of Vetera Bridgeport, e of Pa of |Who was scheduled to speak Recitation, “A Dixon. a Boy :Frank Perfect Tribute.” | After the and his [ Through Georgia polished. The dience ,an exhibition the clear high ! by sixteen men of interest. The N. G., under the f Abraham n H. P. Ladbury Perfect N. Kelly ngin New Spring Clothing o Credit Men’s Spring Sults In All the New, Snappy, Up-to- Date Models, $12.00 @ fo SZiim LADIES" & MISSES' SPRING SUITS A large variety of the latest styles and shades in all fabrics $12:9 ta397-00 A Complete Téue of Childien's Wear, $1.00 A WEEK SOON PAYS THE BILL. LY&BRE A was of the drill w N H ent) Company direetion of| NEW RRITAIN, NEAR PRANKLIN SQUARE,