The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1892-10-22

row-there comes day when the spirits of the
fathers no longer walk upon the settlements of
freedom; and ali Is dark; and all seems lost. save
Union. with these surviving. who shall marvel
ut what we see to-day; this land filed with the
treasures OF earth; this city. snatchcd from the
ashes. 10 rise in spend0r and renown, passing
the mind to preconceivei
Truly. out OF trial comes the strength OF man,
out or disaster comes the glory of the State
THE OCCASION.
We are met this day to honor the memory OF
Christopher Columbus. TO celebrate the four
hundredth annual return or the year OF mis-
transcendent achievement. and. with fitting
rites to dedicate TO America and the universe
concrete exposition OF the worlds progress be-
tween 1892 and 1892. No twenty centuries can
be compared with those four centuries. either in
Importance or in interest. no previous cere-
monial can be compared with this in Its wide
significance and reach because. since the advent
OF the son of God. no event has had so great
an Influence upon human affairs as the
discovery OF the Western hemisphere. Each
OF the centuries that have INTERVIEWED marks
many revolutions The mcrest catalogue would
crowd a thousand pages. The story OF the least
OF the nations would NIL a volume. In what
have TO say upon this occasion. therefore. shall
confne myself 10 our own: and, in speaking of
the United etates of America, propose rather
10 dwell upon our character as "A people. and our
reciprocal obligations and duties as a aggrega-
ton OF communities. hcld together BY a fixed
Constitution, aud charged with the custody OF
union upon whose preservation and perpetua-
ton IN It's original spirit and purpose the future
OF free, popular government depends than 10
enter into a dissertation upon abstract princi-
ples. or 10 undertake an historic essay We are
"a plnin. practical people We are a race
OF inventors and workers. not OF poets and
artists. We have led the worlds movement, not
It's thought Our deeds are To be found not upon
frescoed walls, or In ample libraries, but in the
machine-shop. where the spindles sing ana the
looms thunder; on the open plain, where the
steam pillow, the reaper and the mower contend
with one another in friendly war against the oh
duracies or nature; in the magic of electricity as
1t penetrates the darkest cavern with its irres ST
and our conditions. as far able. with
cand0r untinged by cyncism, and O confidence
having 10 air or assurance.
THE TRUE AMERICAN PoLITY.
better opportunity could not be desired for
study of our peculiarities than is furnished by
the present moment.
We are in the midst OF the quadrennial period
established for the selection of chief magis-
trate. Each citizen has his right of choice, each
has his right TO vote and to have his vote freely
cast and fairly counted Wherever this right is
assailed for any cause wrong is done and evil
must follow. first to the whole country, which
has an interest IN all its parts. but most to the
community immediately involved, which must
actually drink of the cup that has contained the
poison, and cannot escape its infection.
The abridgment OF the right OF suffrage, how
ever. is very nearly apportioned to the ignorance
or Indifference of the parties concerned by it,
and there Is good reason TO hope that with the
expanding intelligence OF the masses ana the
growing enlightenment of the times. this partc-
ular form or corruption In elections will be re-
duced below the danger-line.
TO that end, as To ell other good ends. the
moderation of public sentiment must ever be our
chief reliance: for when men are forced by the
general desire for truth, and the light which our
modern vehicles of Information throw upon the
truth, to discuss public questions for truths
sake, when IL becomes the plain interest of
public men, as II Is their plain duty, to do this.
ana when. above all, friends and ncighbOrs
cease To love one another less because of indi-
vidual differences OF opinion about public affairs,
the struggle for unfair advantage will be rele-
gated To those who have either character TO
lOse or none to seek.
1t Ia admitted on all sides that the current
presidential campaign is freer from excitement
and tumult than was ever known before, and It
is argued from this circumstance that We are
tsaversing the epoch OF the commonplace II
enough of the dramatic and sensational. and
need season of mediOcrity and repOse. But
may we not ascribe the rational way I'm which
the people are going about their business To
larger knowledge and experience, and laircr
spirit than have hitherto marked our party con-
tentioIs!
Parties are as essential to free government as
oxygen TO the atmosphere or sunshine to vege-
tation. And party spirit is inseparable from
party organism. To the extent that it Is
tempered by good sense and good feeling. by
love OF country and Integrity OF purpose. IL is a
supreme virtue; and there should he no gag
short OF decent regard for the sensibilities of
others put upon its freedom and piainness of ut
terance. Otherwise, the limpid pool of denoc-
racy would stagnate. and We should have re-
public only In name. But we should never cease
| TO be admonished by the warning words OF the
Father of his Country against the excess or party
| OF century of party warfare; a warfare happily
eliminating in the complete triumph OF Ameri-
can principles. hut brought many times danger
ously near TO the annihilation or all that was
great and noble in the national life.
| LIFT UP YOUR HEARTS.
Sursum corda. We have in our own time seen
| the Republic survive an irrepressible conflict,
| sown in the blood and marrow of the social or
der. We have seen the federal Union. not too
strongly put together In the first place, come out
OF a great war of sections. stronger than when !,
went into it, its faith renewed. its credit rehab
itated, and it's flag sauted with love and homage
| by sixty millions of God-fearing men and women
| thoroughly reconciled and homogeneous. We
| have seen the federal Constitution outlast the
strain, not merely or reconstructory ordeal
and presidential impeachment. but a disputed
| count OF the electoral vote q congressional
deadlock. and an extraconstitutlonal tri
bunal. yet standing firm against tile
assaults of its enemies, whilst yicldne
| itself with admirable fexblity to the needs OF
| the country and the time. And. finally. we saw
transferred from hands that had held il quarter
| or O century to other hands. without protest
although so close was the pol In the final count
that a single blanket might have covered bot h
contestants for the chief magisterial Office With
such arecord behind us, who shall be afraid OF
| the f,turei
| The young manhood of the country may taxi
| this lesson from those of us who lived through
| times that did. indeed, try mems souls-when
| pressed down from day TO day by awful respon-
sllilities aud suspense. each night brought O
| terror with every thought of the morrow and
when. look where we would. there were light and
/ hope nowhcre-that God reins and wills, and
that this fair land is. and has always been, in
His own keeping.
| The curse of slavery Is gone. II was Joint
| heritage of woe. to be wiped out and expiated in
blood and flame The mirage of the Confederacy
1 has vanished. It was essentially bucOc, Wis
/ ION of Arcade. the dream of n most attractive
| economic fallacy. The Constitution is no longer
n rope OF sand. The exact relation of the States
TO the federal government, left open to double
/ construction by the authors of our organic be
| ing. because they could not agree among them
selves, and union was the paramount object, has
been clearly and definitely fixed by the three las
amendments To the original chart. which consti
| fute the real treaty OF peace between the North
and the South. and seal our bonds as a natlcI
4 forever.
/ The Republic represents ut last the letter and
| the spirit OF the sublime Declaration. The fet
tiers that hound her the earth are burst
asundcr. The rags that degraded her beauty are
| east aside. Like the enchanted princess I'm the
| legend, clad In spotless rainent, and wearing
a crown OF living light. she steps In the perfec-
ton of her maturity upon the scene of this, the
| come TO the world.
| THE MEANING OF 1T.
/ Need pursue the themei This vast Assem-
blage speaks with resonance and meaning
| which words can never reach. 1t speaks from
the fields that are blessed by the never-failin.
waters of the Kennebec and from the farms thai