Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1884-05-30

- r. -
,dsaned ard hnitsd boasdasiss. Tbsa
man wonld be . bold man Who would
dare 70 predict what will b. ths boom.
dsry OF this nation hundred years o,
hity yesss henss. Daljks Al ~ nationa
q thu world il sverythtng y origin; foe
~ a. the6 nation whose fouDdssu
planted Tor the ssks oe gsligious princi.
pies Ave one. that one the nation vhoea
existence 10 the standing miracle and
whose founder WAS the Hebrew Abra-
ham.
We are the only nation which IL com.
poeed 81 . lain9llng Of all the rsoes Ql
tne old world; and ~ afe tho only nd.
ton which IN its constitution presents
the paradox Of national government
which is not supreme, and Of state gov
ments which ore not independent.
btaodieG hsse ono huDdrsd years from
our birth, imagination csnnot
conceive. nor the widest dreams picture
Whss VIII betke future OF such nation
when dve hundred and . thousand and
two thoaAnd yeers have matured and
completed it. Like this grand river
which flows in front Of our beautiful
oity and pours into the sea three thous.
and miles south Of ~, which begins with
the springs OF water which How from the
water sheds OF the Pacific coast in Mon.
tana; from those other springs and lakes
which begin and dow southward from
the wster sheds OF the Hudson Bay and
the North Sea; from those other springs
and rills which flow from the water sheds
of the Atlantic coast and the lakes: from
those other springs which aow from the
water sheds of the Atlantic in the Caro-.
linas and Georgia, and from those other
springs which flow from tho water sheds
of the Sierras in the southeast, what
man who stood for the first time 1t any
one OF these fountain heads of this great
river stretching around in more than
semi-circle to the southwest and vest,
and north and east to the southeast,
could tell by the sise and the color and
the character of the stream before him.
what was to be the volume, the force. the
depth and the width of that great inland
sea which flows to meet the greater sea
at its mouth. That this nation will be
mighty and terrible and splendid ali can
foresee, and the whole world admits that
itshall forever be one, the united. The
graves of the hundreds OF Thousands
OF soldiers sleeping over there and on the
hills and valleys and by the plains and
rivers of every city of this union which
We and our brother comrades go this day
to decorate, are the firm sureties,
The bond they have signed is written
not on paper or parchment, not on tables
OF stone, or brass, or iron, but on the
everlasting and enduring tablets of the
earth itself; aud each mound of sacred
earth. under which lies soldiers ashes.
Is the signature and seal of the martyr's
surety to that bond.
This is debt that We owe to them.
that 1t shall be Just nation. that that
righteousness which exalteth nation
shall 90 be enduring is our part of the
work. 1t 10 for us. that is, for
each man, woman and child to see that
by our actions. practices and lives, by
the help OF the God OF our fathers, this
nation shall be honest and Just. So be.
ing, it shall have the continuing guard.
ianship of that God who was the God OF
Washington, who prayed to him before
Valley Forge, who was the God of Lin.
coin, who prayed to him before the bat.
tie of Antietam and who vowed vow
and kept that vow after the deliverance
ct Antietam by proclaiming liberty to
the slaves, and who afterwards in that
wonderful second inaugural burst forth
as if too full of long pent up fires oi
prophecy to restrain himself, into that
solemn and remarkable strain oI
confession of the sins of the
people and of prayer for their forgive
ness, which sounded through the
land with an electrical shock like the
lamentations Of . second Jeremiah. OF
like the weird, Wild desert called to re-
pentance of another John the Baptist.
OF one thing We can be assured be
yond all doubt, that time will nevel
come when there will not be conflict,
and perils and wars. That time will
never come when the country will moi
need brave and honest men.
As far as the eye can reach into th,
prospect of the future No can now set
conflicts and perils and war. Tn,
muttering growls and the laundering
of the great storm are alread,
heard in the distance. Wa, be
tween the Thousand colossal mono
poles which are hourly and iapidl,
growing higher and broader and strong
er until they threaten to tower up ii
their proportions above the reach Of th,
government itself on the one hand. AND
the rights of the people on the othe
hand. 10 steadily marching toward us
Whether it is to be war of bullets or o
ballots depends upon how soon it come,
and how wise the people are. II
these as in all times our only hope il no
in riches, or numbers, or armies, or shipa
or guns, but it is in men.
As England's statesman sung, 90 mus
We now say,
What constitutes state?
Not high raised battlements or labored man,
Thick Nall or noated gate,
Nor cities proud, with spree and turret
crowned,
Not bays or broad armed ports,
Where Laughing at the storm our pavie, ride
Not starred and spangled courts.
Where low -broWed baseness watts perfnme 4
pride, fN'Ae
No! Men, high minded men.
This constitutes state.
Men whe their duties know,
but know their rights, and, knowing, dar
| maintain,
Prevent the long aimed blow,
crush the tyrant while We rend the chain,
Inns constitutes state"
And now. comrades. let us 70 and cas-
our gifts of flowers upon the graves 3
those men who knew their riRhts, AND
knowing, dared maintain. As we 20 nm
der this sun of May, may the spirit o
those dead go with US; as We stand b.
their graves. may the lesson of the da,
be SO learned by us and our childreii
that from this time on, forever, Will