Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1879-03-28

LutlT " iuBS WtIC tuC uCNcA NJ" ~
far as from Plymouth Rock to the Golden
Gate. No CS isr ever governed 30 many
square miles a. the American execu-
tive rules over. | remember that big
moss is not greatness but it Is opportunity,
and opportunity improved l. greatness. MIR.
Gladstone estimates that in 1880 the income
OF the United States will DO greater than
that of Great Britain. Ia my own opinion
it will certainly be so in 1900. We are to
be one of the most p0gerfI! OF the nations.
From no one spot on earth can you cut out
80 much good land as from America. | am
proud of America On account of her physical
capacity am afraid Tor her on account Of
her temptations iw0uld rather be an Ameri-
can than Roman under the Empire or an
Englishman under Queen Victoria. De
TOcqueyille said the time was certain to
come when the United States would con-
tain one hundred and fifty millions of
people We have had a. yet no trouble
from overcoming. But il at the time of
the railroad riots of 1877 We had had a
population of one hundred people to the
square mile and the cities had been pro-
p0Itionately large, what would have hap
pened? Wcthen SAW the frs. but probably
not .he last uprising along the great railrosd
lines. The lower classes OF the cities took fire.
! stood in Chicago and saw tho citizens
welcome the soldiers CT the regular army.
There was only needed little more courage
in the mob and q little less in one or two
State executives and what would have been
the result? The question is Is not the peril
OF the country as great as its promise? And
yet paper in New York thinks the regular
army should be reduced to two thousand
men The paper il called the Sul-lt
should be called the Moon.
For FIVE hundred years to come i've great
powers will govern this cOntlnent-the
parlor, the pulpit, the press. politics and
the executive. One Of the chief tsrrors IS that
the time has come when cultured men are
becoming more and more Disguised with the
dregs OF the people. The pulpit doesn't
preach politics. appeal Tor union OF the
parlor and the pulpit for the elevation OF
our politics. Geographical secession is not
the most mischicvcu4 kind OF secession in
the United States. The majority of the
men killed in the war were between % and
81 years of age. My generation is only the
tat,ered remnant after the battle. | wish
to show you both our promise and our peril.
The arabic soil Of America is greater than
that of Europe. Asia and Africa together.
We have practically no desert. Our noun
tsins run principally from north to south.
while in the other hemisphere they run from
east to west This continent can main
tain greater population than the
old world Amerlca is yet n
the gristle. Her young ieet-not yet al
together unstsined By blood-are wet by
the waters of eternity in pity for her in
fancy. 1t is my honor, tonight, to speak
in the presence o. the Oldest living graduate
OF that institution OF learning which has
done such honor to your town. Lie has
seen the growth Of the country from five
millions to fortyfve millions. At the open
ing of the century the centre Of population
was near Baltimore. Now it is near Cir
cinnati At sunset tonight it was forty
ieet further west than at sunrise. Lot NJ
look forward to 6 population CT twe:Te hun
dred millions. We hold this country in
trust for this vast population. Let us use
not prophecy but forecast. Let US look not
to the second or third centennial but to
ultimate America. when the soil shall BE- as
fully occupied as that of Europe is at pres
emit Let Us look forward 10 a possible al
lance of all English-speaking peOple-not
a political union but commercial league.
With the submarine cable, the telegraph
and steam there are no foreign countries.
We ought to have reciprocity treaty
between English speaking people.
century ago the city population OF the
United States was 100 Of the whole in
1870 it was l 5 Your commonwealth is one
of the best governed States of the Union.
From your lakes and mountains you can
look down on States struggling with cor
rupt municipalities New York is the
Empire State IN iniIuit3. beside other
things New York city il small, compared
with London. We shall have in the future
several gigantic ei;ies-On the Atlantic and
Pacific coasts and on the Mississippi. Where
are the Ariels for all our Calibans? With
our growth the difficulty OF governing will
increase We mgst reform our municipal
gOvernments-wnl0h are modelled in great
measure on the old medieval system. They
should have legislative. judicial and execu-
tive departments, and a system Of checks
and balances should be established. | want
one more chaage-Gnd that is in the matter
Of ignorant suffrage. After Offering
every child the benefits Of the common
school. at fixed date - say 1900 -
every man unable to read should
be forever debarred from the right
of suffrage One more ehaDge-One in our
civil service. The New York custom house
has been made weapon of partisan az
erosion. am not here to approve Of all
the appointments OF the President, but
respect his order regulating business at that
custom house. There are about 100 900
Oihce-hultcrs in this country, to be turned
out and put in at every party victory. At
every presidential election there will be an
opportunity for iriud. II certain guarantees
against frauds at elections are removed and If
certain federal ell; otiun laws are repealed.
there will DO worse frauds at the next
election than at the last-and it the result
is close it will not be settled by an electoral
commission. II things keep on in their
present channel our politics will DO as the
mouth Of uehenna to this country. Give
US some applications OF the civil service
reform. would not introduce exactly
the English rules but something like them.
Let US adopt Jefierson's rule-character,
capacity and fidelity. Let Us t.ke
pattern of the first fifty years of
of the Republic. With rigid civil service
system and no removal IRON office except
for cause, the temptation to fraud would be
immensely diminished. There would then
be no cipher dispatches. America is worth
saw ng-and it isn't saved vet.
Look at our churches. Cities are apt to
transform them into Sunday club-honses.
Our largo cities are either the best or the
worst places Tor raising Christians.
great trouble with the city churches Is that
tOO tuo fh- uhA
hasn't the grace to 90 and hang
himself. We Yankees are audaciOus
and not conscientious. ia every door is
written Push The church needed by
the American of the future must be scientific
and Biblical.
The speaker then cl.srd with an eloquent
in which he prcilgured IN the
simil itude of u vision the dissemination of
liberty. of intelligence, of the rights of
and Of eOuscientiOusness, aud the
consequent welfare and prosperity OF
America.
Two large maps of the eastern and west
ern hemispheres were hung behind the loo
turer, to which he made frequent reference,
and among the many good things VIC have
not space to report. in his lecture. was an
and interesting lesson in physi
,al geography. The lecture occupied over
Two hours of rapid talking but so strong
was the interest OF the sublec 80 broad and
irm the speakers grasp of his theme, 50
striking his groupings of facts, and 50 earn
s-t his incubation of the lessons drawn
from them, that he held the large audience
~ We have rarely il ever seen one held by a
ecturer. during 30 long discourse. His
hearers found themselves wearied, at it,
lose, but it was by close attention and
hard thinking. and not by tedious talking.
Without grsces OF oratory, MIR. Cook com
hands the attention OF every hearer by the
igor OF his thought and the vivid and mas
lefly way in which he presents his facts and
Illustrations. The many telling passages in
lis lecture were followed by hearty applause.
The excitement over tie suspension of the
New Orleans bank was causcesS, and the