To many a frantic student, and to a few public utility operators and drug store keepers, yesterday was just another insufferably hot twelve hours, in which one or more boresome tasks had to be methodically faced or skillfully neglected according to long practice and tradition. To thousands of others it was a day of much desired relaxation, whether in the Red Sox bleachers, on the open road, at a nearby beach, or in a movie theatre with washed air. To the remaining few was left the function of celebrating Memorial Day as those who designated it as a holiday expected.

Surprisingly enough, the South was first in appointing a day for decorating the graves of soldiers who gave their lives in the Civil War. The Grand Army of the Republic, under its commander-in-chief, General John A. Logan, followed up the idea, and chose May 30, 1868 as the day for respecting Union graves. The holiday was quickly made annual by all save seven of the southern states, while Virginia recognized the occasion each year, but called it "Confederate Memorial Day". Thus Memorial Day is virtually a national event, and after almost seventy years of steady observance, has assumed a position of real traditional rank.

The march to public and private cemeteries by American Legion members and others has become one of the most respected of our native rites, more solemnly carried out even than the more recently inaugurated Armistice Day observances. The contagious enthusiasm of masses of people wholeheartedly experiencing the same emotion is impressive and heartening. As long as such collective recognition of past deeds and their tragic side is periodically engaged in, there will be a strong tendency toward national stability and a level-headed outlook.