Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1894-10-03

"ahuAhe NviAN ipitb, tuN OiC a. htiNhohe
to teach the high and noble lesson of kind
illness of heart, revolutionizing of business
practices aud habits aud achieving great
success the other in the halls of Congress,
in the hearts of the people, winning great
triumphs for an enlarged commerce, turning
the face of the nation from trading with it.
self and attempting to get rich by taxation,
looking to the outer world with a greater
and nobler career
When one recalls what possibilities
America possesses; how she has such sour
ces of raw materials how she is the basis
of food supplies how she has the best of
every nation, in the skilled labor, how mar
veous is her inventive faculty; how indus
trious aud frugal are her people, what will
not she achieve in the race of nations, il
the principle that has guided Mr.. Rouss and
Mr. Wilson but prevails, that exchangeabil-
ity is the basis of all wealth. Ii is the ra-
pidity of the turn over" that has made
Charles Broadway Rouss rich man it is
the frequency with which his money and his
goods have been exchanged one for another
that enables him TO give to the City of Win
chester to-day such a magnificent gift
Had he permitted his goods to remain lock-
ed up in bis store, or had he sold them to
his own clerks only, aud let them trade all
day with each other he could never have
been the rich man he is to-day. SO with
the country, trading only with ourselves,
trying to get the better of each other in the
trade by unjust and unequal taxation and
discrimination, the country can never get
rich She must trade with other people.
with other nations for their lasting benefit
as for ours. The prosperity of this country
must not be at the expense of the rest of the
world, or that prosperity has no solid basis,
as we now everywhere see. Hence the les
son of the Rouss business, is lesson from
which the country can learn, aud none so
quick to learn as that of my friend William
L. Wilson.
Permit me at this moment to read to you
a charming letter which a week or two ago
had the happiness to receive from Mr..
Wilson, in which he refers in glowing terms
to your hOnored guest of today. These are
the words under date of August 2lst:-"I
had intended to write you letter express
ing my great qualification at the favorable
turn in your recent troubles. was espe-
cially so that my good friend Rouss, with
whom served in the ranks during the War,
proved himself your friend at this crisis
But it was just like him, for he is one of
Gods noblemen." So you see, my friends,
how even the greatest in the land rs even
the humblest newsboy in the streets of New
York share in their good opinion Of the man
whom we are glad to come here to honor.
These two men bound together by such
ties of similarity-the one in private and
the other in public lifc-fought battle
long ago. They, like Peter-the Hermit,
sought to conquer by the sword, and reused
the nation to arms for conquest. They did
not succeed, and happily, perhaps, too, be-
cause a united nation now succeeds the glo-
rious heritage Of that war. But, like Peter
the Hermit, they preach nobler and
greater gospel than that Of arms that with
out the drawing of sword, the shedding Of
a drop Of blood or the expenditure Of sim
gle dollar, these two men teach a lesson Of
liberality, Of freedom and Of success for the
individual, as for the country, that illus
trates more than ever before has been illus
tra,ed, that peace hath her victories no
less renowned than war.