St. Paul daily globe., 1888-08-23

tested. On the speakers platform were
seated, among others. Mayor Ames. At
torney General Moses E. Clapp, w. E.
Steele, A. B. Barton. T. B. Janney, B.
f. Nelson. S. E. Olson and W. G. Byron.
Capt. d. NJ. Gilmore, officiating as
master of ceremonies, introduced Rev.
DR.. Arthur Little, of Chicago, who de-
lvered an eloquent invocation.
1t was explained that Gov. McGill had
been prevented from being present by
unforeseen circumstances, and Attorney
General Clapp delivered
THE WELCOMING ADDRESS.
1t was indeed an eloquent effort, in
dicating careful preparation, and was
forcibly delivered The following is
synopsis OF Mr.. Clapp's address:
The history of the world Is success
sion of ep0chs or ages. We read of the
heroic age. Then there was a time
when the world was given over to a
spirit of conquest; time when men
toiled tc rear temples and palaces and
adorn them with the choicest works of
art; an age of philosophy. when pagan
thought, cropping in darkness. almost
scaled the heights of truth. We read
OF the age of chivalry, when brave men
performed deeds of knightly valor that
they might win the approving smile of
beauty; or inspired by the symbol of
faith, counted death a prize if won
in the struggle to rescue the
cradle of Christianity from Moslem
hands. There was all age of discovery,
an age Of literature, which still sheds
its light over the civilized world. But
the present age is pre-emidently prac-
tical age, and especially is this true of
the new world. We stand upon the
threshold of period of development
that will exceed the widest dream. We
live in period when development, re-
sponsive to practical needs, outruns
itself. In the transition from the old to
the new we have encountered the most
StudendouS task ever assumed by man,
the task of snbduing a continent-not
by force of arms, but by the force of
civilization: civilization, too, that in
the process OF conquest is within itself
rapidly undergoing a process OF devel-
Opment.
Standing at the threshold of American
development, we might we'll have paused
in contemplation of the labor before us.
and could we have foreSeen the de-
mands which our civilization would
make upon itself, we might have held
back in dismay. With the energy born
of our surroundings we bent to the
ldpol DcIoic us. but human energy,
unaided, could not have accomplished
the task. Energy alone might have i'm
PEELED population to the settlement of
a continent as barbarouS ages have. in
the past, by the mere force of courage
and energy, poured their resistless
tides over the face of continents. But
ours was a twO-fold mission. Along
with the process of settlement we were
to develop the very civilization under
the inspiration of which we were making
the conquest.
Energy alone, unequal to the task. in.
voked the aid of practical science, and a
people so taxed to their utmost readily
avail themselves of the aid of the prac-
teal, and hailed with delight every art
and every discovery that could contrib
ute to the work of transforming a will
derness into the abode of advanced civ
ilizatiOn, and our progress proclaims
the triumph of the practical.
We have even crowned the practical
with success in our national and politi-
cal life. When tried by civil war, un-
aided by the light of precedent, pressing
counter to tradition and teaching, un-
mindful of written law, inspired by
patriotism and guided alone by the light
of the practical, we trIumphed regard
less of teaching and tradition and the
limitations of the written law. RecogniZ-
ing the Importance of the practical we
have brought our tribute and laid it
upon its altar. and to-day everything
must yield to the practical. Here and
there schools OF learning seek to expand
the realm of abstract science and re-
Vlve the classic lore of other days: bat.
measured by our growth and rapid ad-
vance i'll general practical intelligence.
they but form rear guard of our civili-
Zatlon. Scholars may win their laurels
theorists may dream, but success
crowns the efforts of and the world Yields
homage to the man of practical thought.
The application of practical thought
to mechanical invention has at times
been looked upon as antagonistic to the
best interests of labor, but every prac-
tical invention multipiies the wants
which it seeks to supply, and ennobles
and dlgnlf1eS the labor which it en-
ploys.
We have met to-day to participate in
the opening of the Minneapolis Indus
trial Exposition. We see around US the
effort of brain and muscle, intelligent
thought and skillful hand, that live in
wood and iron-each wheel and shaft
tribute of practical skill to the cause of
human progress and lay a most mag
nificent monument to the energy, per-
severance and liberality of a city that in
itself is a most marvellous outgroWth of
our practical, progressive age.
AS we gaze upon these mechanical
wonders, these products of brain and
hand, may we have keener apprecia-
ton of the value of the practical and a
higher regard for the true worth of
labor.
When the applause which greeted the
speakers remarks died away Mayor
Ames made graceful response, saying
1t was pleasant duty for him to well
come representatives, not only of the
city, but of the state and entire North