The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1891-12-04


in every walk and avenue of life.
And | cannot but think how much
more significant and full of meaning
is this modest celebration than that
of New England of half a century
ago, or that of the Northern Pacific
railr Dad, marked, as it was, by so
much pomp and ceremony in that
little valley of the Rocky noun
tains.
Here is road, my friends, COM
pleted nearly across the continent
without governmental assistance;
without "a magnificent land grant,
such as was given to other transcon-
tinental railways. Here is road al
most betting the hemisphere, with
branches running to various impor-
tant points in the adjoining territory,
which has been pushed forward, not
by the strong arm of the govern
mcnt, not by the aid of any state or
municipality, but simply by the un-
aided, though rcsistlcss power of
commercial thrift and enterprise. 1t
teaches us that the spirit of COM
mercc, all powerful, all conquering,
rules the age in which we live.
What a monument is this to the in
telligence and energy Of our people!
What splendid achievement for the
admiration and applause of all man
kind!
DE Toqueville said of America in
1885: "Boldness of enterprise is
the foremost cause of it's rapid
growth, it's strength and its great
ness" We have here the mathe-
matica! demonstration of the truth of
these words, and better illustration
cannot be found in American history.
When this line of railroad was
projected few years ago, who could
have predicted it's possibilities:
First, the line was graded from Hell
ena to Great Falls; then the ques-
ton Of the tonnage on he iron nee
essary to rail it arose, and because
the Northern Pacific railroad COM
pany proposed to charge s35 per
ton freight, it was decided to push
the main line of the Great Northern
through North Dakota and Montana
and bring the rails that way. 1t
was little less than a Gcd-send to
the state that this unjust and exhor-
bitant freight tariff was fixed by one
company against the opposition COM
pany, for it was due to this fact that
the Great Northern company pressed
to speedy completion its splendid
and we'll equipped line of road into
the young state of Montana. And
TINS it is, that through the rivalry of
corporations, the public is somewhat
benefited, and the ores of your
mines, the grain of your fields, and
the cattle of your plains are brought
hundreds OF miles nearer the mark
cts of the world. New fields have
been opened up to the hand of toll;
the hammer and the drill make
music now where before was but the
silence of solitude. Employment
has been given to industry. Where
before was the barren plain, is now
the busy city alive with activity and
promise. Every avenue of energy
and cndcavor is crowded with eager
workers all happily employed, each
earning self-respecting wages suf-
ticient to enable him to provide COM
fortably for himself and those depen-
dent upon his toll. And, fellow
citizens, it is this spirit of COM
mercial enterprise which, since the
beginning of history, has been some
times the pioneer and again the
handmade of liberty and of civiliza-
ton.
In ancient times it built up Da-
mascus and Babylon and Jerusalem,
where learning and art, science and
literature and religion were cradled
into young and vigorous life. Later
in Macedonia and Greece, in stately
Carthage and imperial Rome, it con-
quercd the wilderness and trans
formed the desert, building up great
libraries and centers of learning, and
teaching to mankind the charm of
music and the grace and splendor of
oratory. Again, in the middle ages,
when feudal law threatened to strip
man of the attire of civilization and
make him once more naked savage; !;
when ruthless and lustful power
robbed merit of it's rights and virtue
of its crown, and the world was sunk
in misery and despair, the merchants
of the Hanseatic league beat back
the mailed hand of the robbcr baron
and rescued art and literature and
religion, and saved civilization for
postcrity. Commercial enterprise
guided the frail barque of Columbus
to the American shores, and has
built up here the greatest and most
powerful and splendid nation since
the beginning of time. 1t subdued
India and South America; it over
came the frozen and forbidding re-
gions of Siberia and Alaska; it
nerved the hand and supported the
followers of Stanley in opening up
the continent of Africa and throwing
the warmth and sunlight of civiliza