The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1891-01-08

cause OF It's distractions ana dlfterenCeS
let the land of their creation have NJ
sentiment of patriotism unhallowed b,
union. Nong and continued applause.
"A MESSAGE FROM THE GRANGERs."
Coming with "A Message from the
Grangers," A. B. Cummins delivered il
to his hearers in these eloquent words
You must allow me to dispel, with my
first sentence, an allusiOn that the sub
ject suggested by your worthy president
may have created. l am not delegate
from the Farmers Alliance, so recently
organized under the Florida palms.
know too well the limits of my own
capacity to undertake to deliver mes
sage from body which proposes reforms
so vast and comprehensive in the social,
economic, moral and political sciences,
| and whose resolutions are a palpable in
| fringement upon Mr.. Bellamy's copy
right. Laughter) Indeed, when come
to examine the source of my authority,
am somewhat embarrassed lest my self
imposed commission may be repudiated
before j, have entered upon its execution.
l(tI5aagiiter.) l. haveread somewhere that
"a prophet is not witlieutS7fBndf save in
HIS own country" and hasten to invite
your confidence by the candid admission
that in my own State have not always
been recognized as the fittest exponent
of my friends the Grangers. daughter
and applause.) But | am now far from
home, and, as you have observed, dis
tance is an element not only of enchant-
ment, but of safety, and in this remote
and secluded spot can, with impunity,
usurp privileges which local prejudice
has hitherto denied me. daughter and
applause.)
When, however, bear in mind what l
am about to do, my position reminds me
of the two brothers who, contrary to the
most stringent injunctions, robbed their
fathers pear tree of its choicest fruit, for
which one of them shortly after fell heir
to most terrific trouncing. He could
not imagine how his father found it out,
and was wondering to his brother about
it, when the latter-a sanity little fellow
very promptly SAID, "My conscience
troubled me, and confessed 1t all to
father" Well, said the other, "How did
it happen that you did not get licking
tooP' "Oh, that's easy, only confessed
on yOu," (Great laughter.)
But upon second thought, no such
complaint shall be made of my mission.
for if one hand be found laden with CON
fessions, the other will be full of just de-
mands yet unacknowledged, and in this
great clearing house of respect and con-
fidence, shall see the place of the hon
est people fer whom | speak still higher
advanced in your esteem.
REMEMBERING THE PILGRIMS.
Doubtful as my right to express the
views of the "Granger" upon some ques-
tions may. be, there is one message which
warns every heart and falls from every
lip. That at least, bring to you with
no fear that it will ever find a critic. 1t
is this: That in each recurring December
when the winds of winter begin to roar
over their plains, they too remember that
cheerless day when the foot of the Pill
grim was first planted upon the New
England shore; and If | could allow can
dor to overcome courtesy, | should say
that they might teach even you higher,
deeper and more earnest appreciation of
the virtues of your ancestors. ZAP
plause.) What more striking figure can
you summon from the history of the
world than this-the emigrant of Castle
Garden lifted up and ennobled by the
emigrant of Plymouth Rock, rcverently
offering his tribute. of affection to the
memory of his benefactOr? The message
that | bear to you is, that we of the
Granger States, gathered from every ma
| ton of the earth, unite in the sentiment
that the anchors which have held us fast
and secure amid the perils of many q
storm are set in the hills of Plymouth
Bay. loud applause.) Letme be more
ieXplicit. We do not venerate the pecu-
| liar religion of the Puritan. It was a
dark and gloomy fanaticism, of which no
| better thing can be said than that il
builded better than it knew. We cannot
admit for New England claim of pre-
eminenee in the love of liberty or of
country, of fidelity in council or valor in
war, nor even of high and accurate skill
in the forms of free government; for in
all these things the impartial hand must
crown alike the Puritan, the Cavalier,
the Dutchman and the Huguenot zap
| plause.) But there is one influence, the
mightiest OF all which have contributed
to the development of the United States
that New England can justly claim foI
herself. 1t is the influence of individual,
ity, of social equality-TOt always exist
/ ing equality. (Applause.) 1t springs
and expands from the idea that man is
what he makes himself; that while there
are ranks in society, ranks in business,
ranks in politics, ranks in everything,
they are all open to every conner who has
the courage, and spirit to enter them,
(Applause.) Your forefatheTs were great
in many things, but surprisingly great
in that they first taught the world to ap'
| preciate and recognize the worth and
dignity of labor. This principle is the
cornerstone of the republic, Without 1t,
the elOquence and wisdom of court Con
gress and convention would have per.
lshed like the vagaries of the French as.
semblies. 1t is with this sign that you
have conquered and hold in moral sub.
| lection an empire vaster than ever ac
knowledged the Roman arms. This is
the spirit which peopled the hills, valleys,
mountains and plains which stretch
away from the summit of the Alleghanies
to the slopes of the Sierras. applause
1t is under the guidance of this master
that the lines of commerce flung from
or hands fly straight to every hamlet
of the West, and with chariot eclipsing
that of the tabled Apollo. you verify in
modern fact the splendOr of ancient fic.
ton. Without it we should be slaves ia
upalterable conditions; with it, you have
taught us to subdue every obstacle which
misfortune can create, and yield sole
obedience TO our Tightful sovereigns--in-
dustry and intelligence, Tremendous
applause) f5 49,.
| Therefore my message is, that, though
we cannot initiate your graceful eulOgies,
| though we cannot share your tilial atfec,
ton, yet after you shall turn reluctantly
away from the past to the duties of the
present. we shall we found waiting to lay
the last though humblest wreath upon
the immortal memory of the Pilgrims.
(Renewed applause.)
MR.. sTILEs's WITTY. ADDRESS.
William A Stiles mingled wit with
wisdom in discussing his toast: "HoV
the Pilgrims dealt with the indian Ques-
ton" OF tile "Poor Indian and the
Pilgims he said;
The Indian problem confronted the
first white man who stepped ON the
shores of this continent, and the
dispatches from the Bad Lands this
evening indicate that the problem is now
no nearer solution than it was 400 years
ago. 1t would be less disoouraging
problem If we could only get rid Of two
of its most refractory elements, one of
which is the Indian and the other Is the
white man. (Laughter.)
These .puzZling factors refuse to be
] eliminated and the methods of attacking
the problem vary according TO the view
taken of them. In the strictly senti-
mental view, which is perhaps no longer
held even in female. colleges, the Indian
appeared as a person who somehow had
been doomed to late start and was still
an infant among the adult races Of the
world. He was endowed with a full
assortment of virtues, but they were all
prytoplasmic-in the dough, so to speak
(aughter, and he only needed con
genial Surroundings TO allure his gifts
and graces into expansion. when
he would forthwith develop into heroic
stature.