Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1875-05-07
Our causes for Nallonal Publication.

Our Causes for National Fellcl,ation.
\ writer in the 4iaine for Nay suggests
taat til, centennial time j. a good one iol
s-ii-ezamining thought on the part of oul
people. to see how far We are entitled Il
concratalute ourselves On our achievement,
as a nation. A. We look at our growth in
the century past. and d our orators tell u,
pleasant things Of or greatness. there Is,
DO doubt, some danger Of undue self-exalta-
ton. and it may be a wholesome process TO
look ia~; now, at some Of the items on the
other side Of the balance sheet. These the
tl9Iae writer sets down a follows
" hare gr0lrH rici and populols True,
We had "a WIDE extent Of territory the old
Ter countries were swarming. needing adii-
tioua. space and additional opportunity,
which oar continent could 50 well supply.
Ia this. the story of rapidly increasing pop
ulati1n i tod ; and there Is really not much
matter for rational pride il it, one of the
II laws # nature. involving the vacuum and
it. filing. the demand and IL supply, having
0nly been carried ont Is IL might have been
by mere dumb force. Wealth could not
well do otherwise than come to u. with 50
many square acres %. rich land to every in
habi-ant. viih such amounts Of the pre-
ciou- metals IL have revealed themselves and
L. >lmc extent developed themselves; with
all the Strengths and favorable conditions o!
Youth 10 car favor and with none Of the
embarrassing remains from the past, ineyi-
table with nations passing through much
niger periods and more enduring struE-
gles.
u. hare become polrsr ~ The political
.rarId True a power Of peculiar position
and virtual isolation. What we are. in that
regard. We have become through that posi-
ti1u. combined with the mere Inert force OF
Territory, and without any considerable As
-i-tance from diplomacy " legislation, IN the
former Of which We have generally been lit
lie les than contemplate, and in the latter
Of which We have usually been dealing for
sections and classes, 10 almost entire forget
faiueS~ of the welfare Of the whole.
" sgrs done w0uaes N nuetioH.
True the exi.encies Of q new and wide
spread country have wonderfully spurrcd
tie inventive faculty, while the influx of
people from al the nations Of the Old
World has brought in TO u that blending Of
practical intellect, and that opportunity for
comparison as 10 laus and processes, which
uo other nation has ever enjoyed. In labor
saving invention, We stand pre-cminent.
Bat how far this fact rebounds 10 our credit,
and how far il merely shows the wish 10 per
form Il certain work with as little labor a.
possible, may be some time subject of
amused inquiry. And more than half Of
what We have invented, we have By No
means perfected a. have some Of the nations
Of the Old World
81 hare prorsa our ,rW and our por.r
10 remain a nation, through firo iHternafion-
al conflicts, and one sufaueane struggle If
laaeqs. proportions True 10 a certain
extent The first of tie two struggles with
Great Britain does not properly come into
the calculation il was part Of the throe OF
.uur birth The second was Of very limited
reach. bringing out few resources on either |
side and with our then enemy hampered /
and crippled by the wars of the continent, |
almost 10 the degree Of helplessness. II Is |
too early, a. yet. TO speak calmly Of the in
ternecine struggle but il i not too early to |
.ay THAI the les spoken Of 1t in the wav Of /
se.i-clorifcation, the better and the wiser. /
vt the best. il was the somewhat slow and I
difficult defeating Of a much weaker antago-
mist and how far It has proved our deter
mina,iun and power 10 remain one united
country, can better be answered twenty
wears hence than at present-answered when
we shall have ascertained. through the
course Of later legislation. whether we really
desire TO resume the old Status Of friendly
members Of one compact, or whether per-
sonal or sectional profit l. to be made the
dominant object, no matter what other per-
sons Or sections suffer or become destroyed.
We d. not think our late war Is rightly
described, A. at best the defeating ola weak
er antagonist. 1t was contest within the
nation, the defeating Of ourselves by our
selves, the triumph, somewhat slow and DIFF
icult no doubt, Of the higher and nobler
elements in our national body, over the an
Ii-demoeraiic anu di>integrating influences
and elements. 1t was the assertion Of our
existence Is Nation, and not as 4 congeries
If little republics held by rope of sand.
Ii was a struggle to settle the question that
government Of the people, for the people,
md by tie people, should not perish from
he earth. Of the spirit with which it was
'pcned, maintained and closed by the North,
We have night to be proud. Otherwise
here are in the considerations above, things
worth thinking Of and others might be
ldded, enough surely to teach Us that our
elt-eongratulations should be without az
'ogance, if we are all Of hundred years
I'D, and large at that.