WAR SONGS A COMPLETE COLLECTION OF NEWSPAPER VERSE DUR- ING THE RECENT WAR WITH SPAIN Compiled and Edited BY SIDNEY A. WITHERBEE. SIDNEY A. WITHERBEE, PUBLISHER, DETROIT, MICH. 1898. THE ASTOR 1807 Copyright 1898, Press of John F. Eby & Company oit PRESIDENT MCKINLEY'S TRIBUTE TO THE THE MEN BEHIND THE GUNS. "Hitherto, in peace and in war, with additions to our territory and slight changes in our laws, we have steadily enforced the spirit of the Constitution secured to us by the noble self-sacrifice and far-seeing sagacity of our ancestors. We have avoided the temptations of conquest in the spirit of gain. With an increasing love for our institutions and an abiding faith in their stability, we have made the triumphs of our system of government in the progress and the prosperity of our people an inspiration to the whole human race. Confronted at this moment by new and grave problems, we must recognize that their solution will affect not ourselves alone but others of the family of nations. "In this age of frequent interchange and mutual dependency we carnot shirk our international responsibilities if we would. They must be met with courage and wisdom and we must follow duty even if desire opposses. No deliberation can be too mature, or self-control too constant, in this solemn hour of our history. We must avoid the temptation of undue aggression and aim to secure only such results as will promote our own and the general good. "It has been said by some one that the normal condition of nations is war. That is not true of the United States. We never enter upon war until every effort for peace without it has been exhausted. Ours has never been a military government. Peace, with whose blessings we have been so singularly favored, is the national desire and the goal of every American aspiration. "On the 25th of April, for the first time for more than a generation, the United States sounded the call to arms. The banners of war were unfurled. The best and bravest from every section responded. A mighty army was enrolled. The north and the south vied with each other in patriotic devotion. Science was invoked to furnish its most effective weapons. Factories were rushed to supply equipments. The youth and the veteran joined in freely offering their services to their country. Volunteers and regulars and all the people rallied to the support of the republic. There was no break in the line, no halt in the |