Jennie Iowa Berry, National President of the Woman's Relief Corps: Commander-in-Chief and friends, one of the great spots of American history, hallowed by sufferings known to America and to the world, the site of Andersonville Prison Pen, is about to pass from the keeping of the Woman's Relief Corps to that of the United States Government, and I have requested the woman who has been instrumental in bringing about the acceptance by the government of this historic and sacred spot to make the presentation, Kate E. Jones, Past National President of the Woman's Relief Corps.

Kate E. Jones: Commander-in-Chief, veterans of the Grand Army and citizens assembled: Sixteen years ago the Department of Georgia, Grand Army of the Republic, presented to the Woman's Relief Corps a tract of land known as the Andersonville Prison Pen, famous in the history of the Civil War.

The Woman's Relief Corps accepted the gift as a sacred trust, and year after year improved, cultivated and beautified the grounds till the barren desert waste became " a garden of beauty." Five States erected beautiful monuments thereon to the memory of their heroic dead, and far above the highest ground in the "old stockade" the stars and stripes floated in the breeze, seen for miles around.

As the years went on the feeling grew apace among comrades and members of the Woman's Relief Corps that these hallowed grounds should be under care of and belong to the United States Government. On March 27, 1908, I, as National President, in the name of the Woman's Relief Corps, proffered, as a free gift, the Andersonville Prison property to the United States Government. Finally, after some delay, the bill passed the Senate and House of Representatives unanimously, and March 2, 1910, President William H. Taft signed the bill, and it became a law.

Tonight I have the honor to present to the representative, Lewis W. Call, Chief Clerk of Judge Advocate-General George B. Davis of the War Department, the transfer deed of Andersonville Prison property from the Woman's Relief Corps to the United States Government. It is a deed of a battlefield, the battlefield of the greatest mental and physical suffering known in the annals of war, where nearly 14,000 men imprisoned, suffered, starved and died in defence of their country, preferring "death to dishonor."

It is land blessed by God in Providence Spring when

"The prisoners' cry of thirst rang up to Heaven:
God heard and with his thunder cleft the earth
And poured His sweetest water gushing there "

a crystal spring today.

We are proud of our government that it accepts our gift, and will perpetually guard and care for this hallowed spot in honor of "Our Nation's Defenders."

As I surrender to you this deed to the Andersonville Prison property the heart of the Woman's Relief Corps goes with it. Many of us are old, gray-haired "women of the war "that knew of the sufferings of Andersonville. We shall never forget, but continue our gifts to the beautiful rose garden with its wealth of blossoms consecrated to Memorial Day and the graves in Andersonville National Cemetery.

Lewis W. Call: Ladies of the Woman's Relief Corps: In accepting from you this gift to the government of the hallowed spot which has been your care for sixteen years I feel that it is fitting that it should pass into the hands of the government for whom 14,000 men suffered martyrdom, and especially fitting that it should be placed under the care of the War Department, whose Judge Advocate General has authorized me to accept your donation. I feel sure that your trust will be faithfully executed, that the grounds will ever be held as a memorial of the heroism of the men who there proved themselves the highest type of patriots, that future generations may journey there, and reading the inscriptions upon the monuments you have caused to be erected, honor their memory, and realizing, in a measure, the individual sacrifice and patriotism that were necessary to preserve this nation, be inspired to do their part to keep this a "government of the people for the people and by the people." I thank you in the name of the United States Government for this gift.

Commander-in-Chief Van Sant: Mrs. Della R. Henry, National President of the Ladies of the G.A.R., will now extend to you the greetings of that Order.

Mrs. Della R. Henry: In tender memory of the days when you went forth on the long, hard marches to offer your lives in battle and to endure in camps far from homes and friends weary days of sickness, we, the women bound to you by the ties of blood and marriage, are proud to bring you our greetings and to do you homage. Who is there that shall say that blood is not thicker than water? We realize that in comparison to what you suffered for four years the prowess of every other nation in war fades into insignificance. Had I the silver tongue of an orator I would pay brilliant tribute to your heroism and to the bright stars and stripes of our glorious flag, but I assure you that our hearts are just as loyal to the flag, and we reverence your bravery none the less because I do not at this time pay eulogy to them. We express our devotion in deeds, not words. The more than 50,000 of your comrades who are comfortably housed in homes which we have helped to provide will bear witness to this, and I assure you that when others have grown weary and other eyes may

grow dim, we, the Ladies of the G.A.R., will remain ever true to you so long as life remains in us.

Commander-in-Chief Van Sant: The response to this number will be made by Past Commander-in-Chief Stewart. I want to congratulate the audience upon the fact that we are getting along finely, and that so far every one has kept strictly within the time allotted, so that there is a possibility of finishing the program even earlier than I thought.

Past Commander-in-Chief General Stewart: I feel that I voice the sentiments of every Grand Army man here when I say that we fully appreciate the greetings extended us by the patriotic women who have rendered so much assistance, not only during the war, but since. When I look upon the monuments erected upon the battlefields, I often think that there should be one commemorating the sacrifice and devotion of the loyal women who stood by the men on the field of battle and prayed for them in their homes. We would never have been so brave had it not been for the women, who, like the Spartan mothers of old, bade us return victorious or upon our shields. With such women back of us there could be no thought of surrender. We had to be victorious, and I want to say to you that we love you just as much now as we did then.

Commander-in-Chief Van Sant: A father is always proud to introduce his children, and I take pleasure in presenting to this audience Mrs. Minnie T. Guittard, National President of the Daughters of Veterans.

Mrs. Guittard: Commander-in-Chief: Knowing that it would be impossible to make myself heard in this large hall I have asked Miss Grace Brock, who has a voice that will be heard, to extend the greetings of the Daughters of Veterans to the Grand Army of the Republic.

Grace Brock: Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic: It is with the greatest regret that I confess that I cannot find words which will adequately express the love and reverence with which I bring to you the greetings of the National Order of the Daughters of Veterans. We love and honor you as we do our own fathers, for you are our own fathers. Added to that homage is a measure of devotion and pride because of your service to your country that led you to carry out and win the battles of '61 to '65, and we trust that we have, in a measure, inherited the same patriotism to help us win the battles of peace that enabled you so successfully to win the battles of war. Our hearts thrill when we recall your bravery upon the field of battle, and we will see to it that our little ones will be able to tell to their children and their children's children the heroic deeds performed by their grandfathers and great-grandfathers, that they may know what it meant to defend the flag and may ever cherish

and defend the banner under which you fought. We are loyal to the heart's core, and count it a greater honor to be your daughters than to have been the children of the proudest monarch who ever ruled over a country in the old world. Theirs is but the nobility of birth, ours is the inherited nobility of worth. I thank you, Commander-inChief, for the privilege accorded me of speaking these few words of homage to the men whom we delight to honor, and will ask only a few more moments of your valuable time. Children delight to show their love for their parents by making them gifts, and so tonight I am commissioned to present to you in behalf of the National organization of the Daughters of Veterans this little box containing two hundred and fifty dollars in gold as a slight token of our esteem and love.

Commander-in-Chief Van Sant: It is all here, and in the name of the Grand Army of the Republic I thank you. Our permanent fund of $28,000 has hereby been increased $250, and I will take care of this box myself in order to be sure that the money gets into the treasury. I have requested Comrade Hann, of the Department of New Jersey, to respond to the greetings from the Daughters of Veterans.

Comrade Hann: My dear daughter, I call you so because your father was a comrade and a soldier, we are proud of the work you are doing, and I urge you to throw wide open your gates and admit not only the daughter of every soldier who is a member of the Grand Army, but the daughters of the 500,000 soldiers who died before the Grand Army was born. The noblest order of women in the world is the Woman's Relief Corps, whose watchword is patriotism, and you can do no better than to follow in their footsteps. Be true to yourselves, true to your mothers and true to your sires. Above all remember that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the nation, and that the future of this government depends upon the ideals which you shall instill into the hearts of your children.

Commander-in-Chief Van Sant: We are getting along finely. Now we will receive the greetings from the Commander-in-Chief of the Sons of Veterans, George W. Pollitt.

George W. Pollitt: Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army, all affiliated organizations and citizens of Atlantic City: I am here tonight as the representative of 40,000 Sons of Veterans to bring you greetings. We were organized twenty-five years ago to assist the Grand Army of the Republic in every line and direction, and, as the weight of years becomes heavy for them, to take up their work. We know that life was just as sweet, that the comforts of home were just as dear to the men who enlisted in response to Father Abraham as they were to the men who remained at home, and although only a boy nine years old I can remember the rough sledding for those left