The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1873-02-21
EMPORIA NEWS.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2l, 1873.
YOUNG KANSAS.
Speech of Mr.. Ingalls,.

few days ago at ASchison, was
a fine ovation. He was called ou
in response to toast and spoke al
follows:
The sentiment which you have
done me the honor to propose
might seem to imply that another
morn had risen on the mid-noon Of
an ancient commonwealth and be
would be surprised to learn thai
the antithesis was SO brief; that the
State had not reached the age oil
puberty; that the infant had not YET
attained his majority who was born
when the Territory was organized
within the limits of what was then
supposed to be the Great American
Desert.
In the affairs of the world there
is no such thing as chance; States
not less than individuals are the
subjects of memorable law, and not
the sport of random caprice. The
| resnlt of the recent election which
placed me in the Senate was not an
accident. il was q revolution; it
was a reaction of the public con-
science; it was a revolt against
precedent and dictation; its accom-
plishment was purely an intellectual
process; the logic of the situation
pointed inevitably in one direction.
IL the opponents of the Senator in
cumbe nt were sincere in their deter
mination to beat him, they must
unite upon some one who could de-
/ tract from his positive strength. l
had secured certain supporters who
preferred me personally, but who
would vote for him rather than any
other but myself. This was my lev
erage-a latent force, Invisible and
imperceptible, that, after the first
ballot, made me an indispensable
factor in the problem of his defeat.
The caucus nomination narrowed
the contest and broke the nerve of
his supporters, Sixty members
pledged their support in writing,
and ten more gave positive assur-
ances of assistance upon the final
ballot. NV election was morally
certain on the morning of the 18th
of January, without the disclosures
of Yonk. of which l knew nothing
until its final revelation. AS the re-
suit was secured without the usual
combinations, it placed me in con-
dition of absolutely uncomfortable
freedom, which is not the least re-
markable phase of the extraordi-
nary drama. While it does not eX-
onerate me from the obligations of
personal and political friendship, it
enables me to say, in the language
of your sentiment, that l am the
representative of young Kansas in
its entirety as Senator never was be-
fore, and if young Kansas will follow
me to the front, we will make one
honest effort to render Kansas poll
tics no longer the synonym of corrup-
ton, and to redeem our State from
the unjust aspersion of ''the rotten
commonwealth" Success imposes
duties which may not be evaded,
and if l understand the meaning of
the event, our mission and watch
word is the regeneration of Kansas,
her redemption from misrule, her
disenthrallment from the malign in
fluences which have so long de-
pressed it's orbit below the plane
OF it's true sphere. To this end
pledge my undivided efforts; to
this end invite the cordial cooper
attn OF all who wish the entire
country well, so that we may not
only stimulate the development of
our State beyond the most sanguine
expectations, but also give it that
moral weight in the nation and the
world to which 1t is entitled by the
virtue aud intelligence of its inhab-
itauts.
have a prophethic faith in the
future of Kansas she is the latest
born offspring of the idea of indi-
vidual liberty which has been the
inspi.a tion of the heroes of every
history and the martyrs of early re-
ligion, and unless we prove recreant
to the high trust imposed upon us,
we shall soon see Kansas in the
vanguard of the sisterhood of States.
There certainly can be no higher
mission than to transmit unimpaired
the prerogatives of freedom derived
from n source so great and noble;
no greater privilege than to exercise
the functions of that freedom in a
manner compatible with reason and
intelligence. BY proper ccncen-
tration of effort, by giving din ection
to the great social forces, by dis
trihutiOn of the benefits of educa-
ton and n decent regard for the
traditions and teachings OF morality
and religion, we can success siully re-
peat upon these prairies the grand
experiment of the founders of the
republic. 1t is a.vast and difficult
problem to maintain that authority
which, while it has to restrain the
hostility of the worst principles of
mans nature, has likewise 10 con-
quer the disorders of his best, which
is perpetually assailed by the one
and betrayed by the other; aud re-
CARDS with equal disPleasure the
milicst and boldest attractions of
the law. These are the suggestions
of the epoch and this is the high
task to which VIC are invited, 10
urge forward The cause of national
purity TO its final end, a triumphant
contamination. So, happily, in that
| jubilee of nations, the era of the
universal republic which will surely
come when thrones and crowns
have crumbled and the will of the
people is the law of every land, our
names may be inscribed among the
/ memorials of the mighty fabric, if
not as heroes and conquerers, yet
J among the number of those who
labGred to establish i'll Kansas a
! government of law and not of men /;
who contributed what they could
| to the fund nf virtue and intelli-
! gencc without which n republic is
| impossible.