The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1875-05-08
CAN OUR GREAT CITIES BE GOVERNED

The j,oD0rtaace of the subject Ofthis inquiry
to the whole mass of our population, can
hardly be exaggerated or over.estimated
And, moreover the time has come for an I'M
mediate practical decision of the intricate
problem therein embraced, namely: by
what means shall we obtain an exalted DIES.
tiny as free people and model nation
With far greater reason than ever Napoleon
had for announcing himself to the world as
The Man of Destiny can the American citizen
regard his country as prc.destincd land It's
very structure shows, with the clearncss OF
demonstration, that the Creator intended here
the development Of the highest types OF hui
man power and grandeur Of soul, It's vast
'extent-diversiied by ali varieties of climate,
soil and roduction-watered by the noblest
rivers and lakes; enriched by inexhaustible
mines of the most valuable treasures; washed
by the two principal oceans; iiankcd, on the
one side by the Alleghanles, on whose sum-
mts the lightnings play and in whose boz
som the tcmpests nestle, ana, on the other, by
the Rocky Mountains, rising aloft in all the
gloomy grandeur Of desolaion; and located
in the most convenient position for access to
the whole world-shows, C0nclusively, that
here is mansion provided for the occupa-
ton aud expansion Of the mightiest nation OF
all the ages. Temporary tenants at will have
preceded u.s. The mound building race APP
peared, 1oursEed, and passed away. The
Indian tribes hunted and warred among the
profound shadows of the primcval forests;
and they, too, are yielding place. We, as a
nation have, like Minerva, sprung forth ready
armed, and developed with une1amplcd ra-
pidity. The heather fables taught that Her
sulca, while 10 his cradle, stranglcd with his
infant hands monstrous serpent which
sough, to crush him in its Shiny folds. But
we have more than realized OF verified the
NEUROLOGICAL fiction IN Dur vivid history As
to age, we arc Yet in our infancy. AS to pc
sition and influence, we stand as peer Of the
most ancient realms. And justly we point in
pride TO our line of brilliant statesmen ora
tors, scientific Investigators, inventors, poets,
and literary writers-although, in some par
ticulars Of these departments, we must still
yield the palm to older nations.
In the dizzy course of our development,
great cities have necessarily arisen, as centers
of commerce, intelligence and refinement.
And these can, by no possibility, be dissoci,
atcd from the whole. The meanesl community
is directly interested in the soundness and
purity of New York or Chicago, just as all,
even the humblest, members Of the human
body are Immediately interested in the sound
ness Of the lungs or heart. If our great cities
become hope!essly corrupted, the ioulness
will penetrate every hamlet carrying poison
and death to the utmost eXtremitics. They
may, then, become not merely sore plague
spot but mortal cankers upon the body poll
tic. Hence, we may well view with alarm
the present tendency OF things. Yet IA knowl-
edge of the disease in lis symptoms and the
causes thereof is the primary essential step
to a proper cure Public attention aroused
to the danger is means of saiety-indflcrcnce
or hopelessness 10 as fatal as the sleep of a
freezing man.