Ohio History Journal

Dedication of the Hayes Memorial.            451   "Rich in saving common-sense, And, as the greatest only are, In his simplicity, sublime." Surely, we shall be dull indeed of apprehension if we catch no inspiration from his ardor for humanity; if we feel no impulse to emulate the virtues which made his service to the world so great. I, at least, thing of him always as of "One who never turned his back but marched breast forward, Never doubted clouds would break, Never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would triumph, Held we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better, Sleep to wake." After a song, the Hon. Newton D. Baker, Secretary of War, representing the President of the United States, was presented and spoke in part as follows:     ADDRESS OF HON. NEWTON D. BAKER, SECRETARY OF WAR. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: Before leaving Washington last night, I was charged by the President of the United States to convey to you his greetings,

and to say that it is a matter of sin- cere regret to him that he is not able to be here on this significant occasion. He would have paid a tribute not only to the great office in which President Hayes preceded him, but as he is a scholar himself he would have borne a scholar's testimony to the eminent service rendered in that office by Ru- therford B. Hayes. We have been richly favored here today in the address just closed. Dr. Williams, whose biography of Presi- dent Hayes is and always will be a standard work dealing with that sub-

ject, has detailed for us the life of this President from the days of his childhood through the testing years of the civil war, and

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452      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

into that serene and mellow age of retirement in which the people

of Fremont best knew the ex-President. Little, therefore, re-

mains to be added to the tribute which Dr. Williams has paid,

but I can perhaps be permitted to recall two incidents in my own

life which associated his personality and political fortunes with

my own thinking.

The first of these was in 1876, when I was between four

and five years of age, living in the town of Martinsburg, W. Va.,

and though of very tender age, still an extremely ardent political

partisan. It was the day of party flag-poles, and the custom

throughout the countryside and in all the villages was that the

rival parties should erect great poles, and on the top of them

place their party emblem. In the public square of my native

village, there were erected two such poles, one for Tilden, sur-

mounted by a broom, and one for Hayes, surmounted by a glisten-

ing globe. As I was a very earnest Democrat, and was quite sure in

all the philosophy of my four years of life that that party repre-

sented the truest traditions of the Republic, I naturally was very

zealous for the pole surmounted by the broom, and I discovered

that when I walked on one side of the square the Democratic

pole seemed the taller, while when I walked on the other side

of the square, the one below the globe seemed the higher. I,

therefore, contracted at that early age the habit of walking around

the northwest side of the square whenever my journeys took me

through that place, and to this day when I visit Martinsburg,

and want to cross the square, I follow the same practice, although

the poles have long since been taken down and the broom and

the globe disappeared from every memory but mine.

Later, in 1890, I was a student at Johns Hopkins University

when Mr. Hayes, then ex-President, came there to make an ad-

dress before the Historical Seminary of which I was a member.

More recent political activities of other men had obscured all

my recollections of the period from 1876 to 1880, and I went to

hear Mr. Hayes with little else in my mind except the childish

recollection of the rivalry of the party poles, but after his ad-

dress, I asked myself who is this simple and scholarly gentleman,

so wise and patriotic and generous? How does it come that I

do not know more of his service to his country? And I im-

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Dedication of the Hayes Memorial.         453

mediately read his biography, and consulted those American his-

tories which covered the period of his service as a soldier and

as a statesman, only to discover that from his earliest youth he

had adopted and lived up to high standards of honor and patriot-

ism, that the idea of service to his country was always the

dominant idea, that he constantly put behind him advantage and

self-seeking, and sought only the place of danger or responsi-

bility, trusting always that if he did his best for his country,

his own fortunes could well be permitted to take care of them-

selves. The struggles of the period before the war between the

States and during that terrible conflict developed high capacities,

and yet this Ohio soldier emerged from the crowd, became a

marked man and conspicuous public servant, rose from the sol-

dier's camp to the Governor's chair and then to the Presidency,

the greatest office in our great Republic, and then, after he had

fully performed all that could be asked of a citizen, he retired,

unspoiled, simple as he was brave, continuing out of office, as a

sage philosopher and adviser to his country, the patriotic services

he had performed while a trusted and responsible executive. He

engaged in no acrimonious disputes. He assaulted none of his

successors nor their policies, he remembered no personal ani-

mosities, and cherished no envy of those who were still in the

active stages of their lives. But, in the midst of a family life

sweet and pure, surrounded by a family which could not help

becoming serviceable to its country, reared in such an atmosphere,

he continued to be scholarly and patriotic, and when he died he

left a life unspoiled and untainted, a reputation too large for this

beautiful city of Fremont, as large and wide as the nation which

he served.

The important thing, however, for us who are here today

is the example for our own lives which lies in this life which is

under review and discussion. Our words can add little to the his-

toric place which he has achieved in our country's annals, but

whether or not his life will achieve the highest good of which it

is capable depends upon whether you and I, and others who may

be now the citizens of the United States, who bear its burdens

and its responsibilities, whose quality determines the quality of

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454      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

our present day institutions, imitate his virtue and follow his

example.

The times have greatly changed since the Presidency of Mr.

Hayes. Great as our country then seemed, it is now incomparably

greater; its territory has been increased, its population has grown

enormously; its influence as a world power is now like the influ-

ence of Great Britain, in that it follows the rising sun around the

globe. In the meantime, the industrial processes by which the

life of the community is sustained are made more intricate. We

have emerged from a rural civilization into a machine age. Our

commerce and our industry are much more intense. The con-

gestion of our population in great cities and manufacturing places

presents new problems. The challenge of this day is as great as

the challenge of his day, and the need for patriots and wise men

is as great now as when President Hayes made his contribution

of service to our country. The question we must ask, therefore,

is, are we doing as he did? Are we offering ourselves for Amer-

ica as he offered himself? Are we addressing ourselves to the

solution of the problems of our day as he buckled on his sword

or took up the statesmen's pen for the solution of the problems

which his day presented? I shall not take any answer to these

questions. Each of us knows by searching his own mind how

far he is worthy to be in any such comparison. Each of us knows

whether he spends the larger part of his life fretting about little

things or whether he really passes them by and gives his mind to

the large issues of welfare and happiness for his country and his

fellow-countrymen. Each of us knows whether he is more inter-

ested by the hurried daily chronicle of small events which the

newspapers present or by serious study of history and politics, in

order to equip himself really to be a servant of the Republic. But,

I can, Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, at least be grateful

with you that this splendid memorial has been erected here in

Fremont, and that this Grove is hereafter to be consecrated

ground, that the memory of the great service of President Hayes

and that this beautiful life will be perpetuated here, so that for

all time to come as the youth of this city see this place they will

have impressed upon their imagination and their memory the

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Dedication of the Hayes Memorial.      455   life of the man who from youth to advanced years really served his fellowmen, and such a memory will undoubtedly be an inspira- tion to them to take a high view of the calling of citizenship and to prepare themselves by study and thought to render such service as is within their capacity and opportunity.     ADDRESS OF U. S. SENATOR POMERENE. United States Senator Pomerene spoke as follows: "I am glad to have the opportunity to come to the beautiful city of Fremont to pay a tribute of love and respect to the mem-

ory of President and Mrs. Hayes. They had such fine ideals, they were truly Christian in every thought and action. The world is the better for their having lived. President Hayes was a good lawyer, a brave soldier, a faithful Congressman, an efficient Governor, and a distinguished and capable President, but, he was more, he was a good man. Mrs. Hayes was a Christian wife and mother, both were devoted to their friends and es- pecially to those here in Fremont who knew them so long and well. I want to congratulate the people

of Fremont in their successful efforts in preserving Spiegel Grove for this community and for the country at large for all time to come. I congratulate them that they have in their midst Colonel and Mrs. Webb C. Hayes, who have done so much to preserve the works and memories of their father and mother. This home with its fond memories will be an object lesson to the boys and girls of this county and this state, they will have before them as an object lesson the lives of a man and woman, than whom, this state has produced none better or purer. As I look over the history of President Hayes, I feel that all his qualities, and there were many of them, his predominat- ing characteristic was his intense love for things American and

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