The Osceola times., 1880-01-03
6RoEsBEtK on TOAST.
Ills speech at the Cincinnati Banquet t'
General Grant.

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ment of facts viii be our cry highest
praise.
Is Inthe Statesman's Year Book of 1879
Published in London and accredited
throughout Europe, am in the reliable
publication. o. the lib an Of our Con
cress and oilers | coull lame, may be
foun, copiou- political and financial q
.istics of all the civilized nations of tie
earth.
What ofthe United States Of America?
What of her magnitudcP Her territory
is ms large as the combined territory of
Rus -. in Europe, Norway, Sweden, Den
mark, Holland Belgium, Austria, Ger
many, Switzerland Italy, Spain, Portu-
cal, France, Great Britain and Ireland.
Whg. magnificent possession for n
gle peOplel Fronting on tLe two e. t
oceans, and central between Europe "rd
and Asia. what an opportunity for com
mercc with both standing apart and
withdrawn from the necessity of en-
tangling alliances with other states, how
| safe, independent and commanding her
| position,
What of ner resources? You have
been rcading in our journals, from day
to day, of our great haryests of wheat,
corn, cotton and other staples. If We
| keep ON, what will they be when our
population will be rs dense rs that of
| Europe? II is enough to say thai / G
| land Of the United STATES is as fertile a-
I that of Europe and ,nder full cultiva-
| tio1 will yield rs mr. / rs tlat ofall the
countries | ave naaed, while under
meath our soil the w storehouses of
coal, iron, gold anI silver far surprising
! theirs. In u word, 1 e.. .ent of territory
and in material resources on the earth
and under the earth the United States of
America may be regarded as about equal
to the whole Of Europe.
What of her present condition? Our
national debt is, say $4,000, 100000.
That of the nations | have named Is
more than eight times as large. We are
reducing ours, it may be, rapidly cnou h.
| am not aware that this is thu case
with any nation in Europe. Their
debts are rather increasing. The great
payment by France to Germany did not
reduce her debit was only a change
o. creditors. The debt of France is more
than $4,600,000,000.
The standing armies Of these countries
occupying about as much territory as we
do. number three millions of men. They
spend their lives in watching the people,
whose substance they devc r, and in
fighting the battles OF dyna. i" rivalries
and ambition. Our standing army num-
bers about $1,000 men. Let us hope
that il may never be large, that we may
shun wars, and ever be able to rely for
safety and order in our midst upon an
impartial, popular and constitutional ad-
ministraiion of the government.
There are in the United States, in
round numbers, 10000 miles Of railroads;
in the whole of Europe. 81 900. ! might
go on with such comparisons. Allow
me in this connection to refer to one
other subjcct-popular education. The
statistics of education in Europe are in
complete and unsatisfactory. / Will
| refer briefly to our own. The United
| States has already donated for agricul-
tural colleges, S,09S 000 acres Of land; for
literary colleges, ,26j,000 acres; and for
| schools, IS ,0S3,000 acres. But the edu-
cation Of our people is in the care Of he
States. What have the States done? |
will give yru but 4 single year. From
the report of the commissioner it ap.
pears that in 1877 there were enrolled in
the public Lchools S,0i200 pupils, and
expended for their education 81 100000.
Let ne give You, as | find it in table
under date of 1877. the proportion OF
people in the leading nations unable TO
read or write. In Russia il is 81 per
cent, in Spain so per cent, in Italy 73,
in Austria - in England 80, in France
| 30 in TIE United Stat's 90, and in Ger
many II per cent Let us make our ac-
| kn wledgcnents to Germany, and let
the c oiher proud Old nations make ,helr
| Acknowledgement to u.
What shall | say oi our political insti-
tutions? Surely | need make no com
parison here. They are the best in the
/ world, the best that ever have been.
/ What shall say OF pe"soral rights and
privileges here? All have the same
| rights and privileges; none are exclusive.
What shall say of freedom here? Re
| ligion is free, the press is free, spe'"h Is
| free, End all the inhabitants are free.
| What shall ! say OF the chances OF lIfc
/ and comfort here? Better than any
where else. Are any homeless? The
| Government is ready to donate farms OF
| 1850 acres of land 10 all who will make
their homes upon them. Such, in the
/ lewcst wyrds, is the present standing of
the United States OF America.
What of her prospects? | have been
making what may seem to you very
ambitious comparison. | have com
| pared the United States no. with any
/ single nation, but with the mass of the
nations in Europe. Why not? Let ne
epeat. Our territory is about as large,
our material resources richer, and our
| debt not one-cighth the amount OF
theirs, and diminishing. Not so theirs.
Our standing army is small; theirs null
titudinous and caing like a cancer. Our
internal improvements are about equal
to theirs; om education more advanced;
our embdrras mcnts fewer; our opportu-
mites better,
The aggregate population of these ma
tions in Europe TO which have referred
/ is about 293 100000. Ours, by the last
| census, about 100000. Two hundred
and nmety-threc millions of inhabitants
| are, to-day, living upon territory not
| larger than ours. What that territory
/ now holds onrs can hold and there is a
| probability, | venture to say there is a
/ certainty. tha, in the not-distant future
| the population here will be as large as
| that of Europe. What then? Shall we
| .e one government, with all the econo-
/ mics of administration that implies, or
| shah we be broken into many nations,
wasting their energies in riyalries and
mutual strife? Shall we on that great
! day be the United States of America,
the mere continuation and expansion OF
what we are? What consummation
that world bel Shall these sacred writ
ten constitutions we now have be pre-
served and faithfully administered, or
] l, . 10, !, Shall thp
people rule then as now, or shall the
g gr..J,,,, g;1apr.l l,. !,