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The Commoner
WILLIAH J. BSRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.
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Vol. 3. No. 19.,
Lincoln, Nebraska, May 29, 1903.
Whole No. 123,
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Memorial Day. .
Memorial Day is here again, and
the flowers, fragrant offerings of
love and gratitude, will soon make
the graves as beautiful as the mem
ory of the soldiers' deeds is prec
ious. Each year diminishes tho
number of veterans who assemble
at tho cemetery to conduct tho
memorial exercises; each year in
creases the number of mounds to
bo decorated, but the' living may
be trusted to perpetuate the cus
tom even when the survivors of
our wars hayo entirely disap
peared. Sorrow for the dead is tho
one sorrow, it has been said, from
which tho living do not care, to be
weaned, and this is the more true,
when with that sorrow there la
mingled the appreciation of pa
triotic service. The living can ro
. joice that the animosities aroused
by the civil war have been so
completelyv buried that those who
wore the blue and those who wore
the gray can march together to tho
"silent city of the dead" and join
in showing respct to the valor and
sacrifice of those who, in the war
between the states, proved tho
strength of their convictions by
the offer of their lives. The living,
also, should in the presence of the
dead consecrate themselves anew
to the work that lies before the
nation, to the end that the wiso
and prompt solution fof the pres
ent problems may insure perma
nent peace and prosperity to our
beloved land.
to to to" H
Congratulations to Cuba.
One year of successful existence r
in spite of the failure .of our na
tion to do its duty toward Cuba,
has justified that new republic's
claim to a separate government
Cuba has met and overcome tho difficult problems
incident to a beginning and enters upon
her sc-ond year, cheered by tho congratula
tions of her friends and inspired by the hopos
which her own good conduct has excited. President
Palma and his associates in office have shown
" their ability to deal wisely with public affairs
and the people have given new demonstrations of
their patriotism. The Cubans have reason to
celebrate" the 20th of May, 1903 the first anniver
sary of their independence and The Commoner'
wishes them many happy nturns of the day..
ijjHm&gi nujtuj l- win
Two men there were who lived apart
When war's dread note was heard;
Kach heard the thrilling fife and drum.
And both their hearts were stirred.
One fought with Sherman to the sea,
With X,ee one fought hi way
One clad In a suit of Not th era Dlue
And one in the Southern Gray.
They saw their comrades fAll in death
With blood lust in their eyes;
They saw the crimson flames of war
That lit the southern skies.
"Old Glory" led the way for one,
One "Dixie" led away
One clad in a blood-stained suit of blue,
And one in a suit of of gray.
Four years they fought with hero strength
Beneath the star-decked dome;
Then when peace came, they faced about
To strains of "Home, Sweet Home."
Kach took the task he had laid down
That long-dead April day
One clad in a faded suit of blue,
And one in a suit of gray.
The years sped on and the war-scarred earth
In the ways of peace was .tilled; Jjt.
And the cry of hate la God's tlmewas'
At last forever stilled.
And year ry year they laid the flowers
Of April and of May
One on his comrades of the blue,
And one on those in gray.
When foes without fired on the flag
No lines held men apart;
"One flag, one coantryl" was the cry
From every freeman's heart.
Two men, with feeble strength, stepped ou
To point their sons the way
One clad in a faded suit of blue,
And one in a suit of gray.
With swelling hearts and with war-lit eyes
Once more they heard the call;
But younger men their own loved sons
Marched forth to fight and fall.
And far apart two old men cheered
As the long line marched away
One clad in a faded suit of blue,
And one in a suit of gray.
In the war-racked isle of the southern sea
In the jungle dark ajid grim.
Two stalwart lads marched side by side
To their country's battlehymn.
Both dared to.die for God and right
In heat of battle's fray ,
One was the son of a man in blue,
And one of a man in gray.
Two old men met where the gceea grave grass
Iong years BadT ran kly growa;
Where the hands of love had carved the word
On many a slab, "Unknown.
And arm ia arm they -rtrewed the flowers
O'er graves where comrades lay
One clad in a faded suit of blue, r
And one in a snit of gray.
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.2?"3.
Persecutions in Russia.
Tho persecution of tho Jews in
Russia, accompanied as it has bean
by tho most terrible atrocities, has
shocked tho conscience of tho civ
ilized world. It is hard to bollevo
that fanaticism and race hatred
could mako human beings as brutal
as tho reports show some of the
Russians to havo been. Tho secre
tary of state has oven more rea
son now than ho had a few
months ago to express national ab
horrence of tho cruelties which
have been practiced against a
harmless and a helpless race. Tho
fact that Hussia has always been
!U--XrJiendlytous8bowljUha8ten rather
than delay our protest, for a friend
can spoak where an enemy's coun
sel would give offense. Tho United
States should tako the lead in the
formation of a public sentiment
throughout the world which will
condemn injustico and promote re
spect for human rights.
Ov Ov Ov
"The Lesson of 1894."
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 aaW
eslTi
Even democrats who think more
of success than they do of demo
cratic principles must have been
Impressed by "The Lesson of 1894
as presented in last week's issue of
The Commoner.
In that statement it was shown
that at the last election when the
present day reorganlzers were in
control of the democratic party, the
democrats carried only eleven
states out of forty-flvo. The net
republican majority received dur
ing that year was 1,082,633, almost
twice as large a popular majority
as tho republican ticket had in 189$
and 20 per cent larger than th
popular, majority of tho republi
cans in 1900.
Under the administration of the present day
reorganlzers, the situation was so changed that
a popular majority of nearly 400,000 for the dem
ocrats in 1892 was transformed Into a popular
majority for the republicans amounting to 1.
082,533 In 1894.
Every democrat who believes in the preser
vation of democratic principles and who pro
tests against the plan to place the party under
the control of the element whose manipulation
brought discredit and disaster to tLe party, should
direct to "the lesson of 1894" as presented in last
f'